


Clade

by GemmaRose



Series: Fucked Up Family AU [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A/B/O Terminology, Blood, Canon-Typical Racism, Coming of Age, F/F, Families of Choice, Gladiators, Illustrated, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-06-25 10:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15638847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: An exile, a delinquent, a slave, a gladiator, and a vagrant walk into the heart of the Galra Empire and take control. Of course, this story doesn't start there. It starts just over ten deca-phoebs prior, with the exile of Prince Lotor to the outer reaches of his father's Empire.Written for theLotor Big Bangwithart by Dejavidetc.





	1. Chapter 1

The shuttle door slammed shut with a clang that sounded louder than usual, and Lotor held Kova closer to his chest as he approached the pilot’s seat. A set of coordinates were blinking low on the viewscreen, already plugged into the navigational computer. He sat down on the edge of the seat, and settled Kova in his lap before reaching out to the controls. His hands shook above the grips, and he curled his fingers around them so hard his knuckles paled. He hadn’t been wrong, Father was just over-reacting. If this punishment was meant to last, he surely would’ve been given time to grab his things.

He exhaled heavily, and started the ship’s engines. It was an older model than the one his simulator was designed after, the controls set up slightly differently, but the difference wasn’t insurmountable. He guided the shuttle out of the hangar bay door, and though space swallowed the sound he could practically hear those slamming shut behind him as well, sealing him out of the only home he’d ever known. He sucked a breath in through his teeth, bracing himself as he slowly increased the engine power. The half-completed rings of the solar shield came closer, and closer, and then they were behind him and his viewscreen was filled with star-speckled void.

“Just you and me, huh Kova?” Lotor petted the cheoc in his lap. Kova purred, and he returned both hands to the controls. “Don’t get too cozy, I can turn the autopilot on as soon as we hit slipstream speeds.” he warned. Kova purred louder.

It didn’t take long for space to start warping around the hull of the ship, and Lotor held his breath as his view of the stars ahead began to distort. No backing out now. He eyed the speedometer. and when the needle hit that little red dash he slid his hand up the controls to hit the jump button. Space seemed to splinter around the ship, falling into streaks of colour and light that rushed past with dizzying speed, and Lotor exhaled. The shuttle wasn’t being torn apart, and according to the little projection from the navigation system he had two vargas before he had to do anything.

“Good thing they didn’t try to take my communicator.” Lotor said to Kova, scooping the cheoc up in one arm so he could stand and dig the slim rectangle out of his pocket. “This would be a really boring trip without it.” he walked back to the benches and sprawled out across one on his back, letting Kova knead at his chest. There was no signal in the slipstream, not with a device this small, but he still had several things open from earlier and those were fully loaded. The detailed report about the destruction of the old homeworld and the rest of its system was especially interesting, and long enough to take him at least most of the trip to boot.

Lotor folded an arm under his head, and opened that one with a tap of his thumb.

\---

The coordinates, when he arrived, turned out to be the sorriest excuse for a military outpost he’d ever seen. A soldier was leaning against the wall, looking supremely bored with their arms crossed and helmet dangling from one hand. He scowled at the viewscreen, shutting the ship down with one hand and gathering Kova to his chest with the other. The cheoc meowed in protest and he let it climb up to sit on his shoulder, sighing when it began to lick his ear with its raspy tongue. Even a movement here would be intolerably dull, he could already tell. Perhaps he could amuse himself by destroying all the high scores in whatever kind of training facilities they had on-site?

He was surprised, when he exited the shuttle, to see the soldier still at the far end of the landing platform. He lifted his chin as he strode across the old, worn metal, and wished not for the first time that he’d inherited his father’s height instead of his mother’s. As it was he probably looked every inch his age, which wouldn’t do at all for striking fear into this disrespectful guard.

As he drew closer, however, he slowed. The soldier’s armour was ill-fitting and badly battered, and the bodysuit underneath seemed to be more patches than original fabric. They blatantly looked him up and down, and gave him a look of something like disgust. “You don’t look like much.” they scoffed, and pulled their helmet on. It didn’t match the rest of their armour. “Can’t believe I waited around to see the prince and all I get’s you.”

Lotor opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The _insolence_ of this- this- lowlife! “Name and rank.” he spat as the strange soldier started to walk away towards the ancient-looking fighters on the next pad. “I’ll have you court-martialed for this.”

They turned around, and smirked at him. “I’d like to see you try.” they quipped, and turned back around to do a series of quick, obviously well-practiced jumps which got them up on top of the fence which separated the pads. A tick later they were on the ground on the other side, and Lotor was left staring at their retreating back.

It wasn’t until he was inside the base and being escorted through the halls by a robotic sentry that he realised the soldier’s teeth had been blunt.

\---

“Prince Lotor, I presume.” the first actual soldier he’d seen greeted him, and Lotor instantly disliked the officer. Just because he was here instead of home on Father’s command ship didn’t mean he could be talked down to.

“Yes.” he said curtly, giving the older alpha a hard stare.

“Starting today, these will be your quarters.” the officer waved his hand over an operation panel, and Lotor sneered at the room beyond.

“It’s a closet.” he scowled.

“You really are a spoiled lil kit, aren’t you?” the officer reached out and Lotor took a step back.

“Don’t touch me.” he spat, glaring and resisting the urge to growl like a cornered kit.

“Don’t make me.” the officer snarled, a proper alpha threat display that had him fighting not to cower back. He had to think tactically here. He was without allies, no tutors or pack or clade, and any given soldier on this base was likely twice his weight. As much as it stung, capitulation was his best bet for now.

He turned, fingers itching for a weapon to curl around. Sword hilt, pistol grip, anything to help level the field. He didn’t like being at a disadvantage.

“There we go.” the officer sounded smug, but Lotor refused to look back at him. “Dinner’s at 1400 vargas, you show up on time or you don’t eat.”

Lotor reached out without looking, and hit the operation panel to shut and lock the door. The room looked even smaller from the inside, and after a tick he realized why. It was furnished for two. Two cheaply made desk with equally cheap chairs, two chests of drawers, two pathetic excuses for beds. And as if to add insult to injury, half of the room looked almost lived-in. The base’s atmospheric recyclers had scrubbed any hint of ambient scent from the air, though, so they hadn’t been here in a while. Perhaps it was simply never fully cleaned up from the last inhabitant? With a backwater base like this, he wouldn’t exactly be surprised if that were the case.

Kova leapt from his shoulder down to the floor, and Lotor threw himself on the bunk in the untouched half of the room. “Father is being so _stupid _.” he huffed, turning his head to watch Kova explore their new quarters. He still couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that Father had outright refused to even make a token effort to find his second son. He’d always been callous and cold, as long as Lotor could remember, but he’d never been so cruel as to leave either of them to die at the hands of a crazed, traitorous druid and her filthy mob of unnatural spawn from all across the galaxy.__

__“I’m sure he’ll be okay.” he muttered to himself, falling to lie across the neatly made bed. A living prince could be used as a bargaining chip, but if he was dead... well, Father would have to give the druid and her brood to Haggar or an arena master or risk looking unconcerned with the fate of his own blood. There was no way the runaway druid didn’t know that, so his brother would surely be kept alive. He grimaced and rolled onto his side, clicking his fingers to summon Kova. Just thinking about how his makeshift little pack was scattered made him feel sick._ _

__He was the eldest, the leader, protecting them had been his responsibility. Training, he remembered telling his sister proudly just a few phoebs ago. The Emperor had to protect their people as if they were all clade, and safeguarding his pack had been his first trial. “Some alpha I am.” he muttered, lifting an arm for Kova to snuggle under. The cheoc purred, butting his head against Lotor’s chin, and he smiled weakly. “At least I’ve still got you, right?”_ _

__Kova meowed, and turned around a few times before settling against his chest. Lotor drew his legs up, curling around the warm little animal, and tried not to think about his siblings under the thumbs of the druids. His brother kidnapped, his sister apprenticed to the head witch Haggar, it just wasn’t _fair_. He squeezed his eyes shut, and pressed his face into the stiff scratchy blanket under him. Mourning their pack’s separation would help no-one, he couldn’t afford to be a crybaby right now. He had to have a plan._ _

__He pushed himself to his feet, pulled his communicator from his pocket, and walked over to the meticulously clean desk. Setting the slim device down so it was propped up against the wall behind the desk, he tapped into the image viewer app and started up a slideshow of his favourite albums. Diagrams, out-of-focus pages of ancient books, and pictures of his pack began to flick leisurely across the little screen, and he couldn’t help but smile at the first image that came up. His sister holding their brother for the first time, when he looked like nothing so much as a blob of squishy purple dough with Father’s cranial plates wrapped in Imperial red. Her vibrant pink face was contorted in something like disgust, the locks of pale hair framing her face only just visible under the hood of her grey apprentice robes, and when the picture changed Lotor looked to the desk drawers in front of him with a fresh determination._ _

__He would ensure that his pack were reunited safely if it was the last thing he did. And should Father and his witch have to die for that to happen, well, he _was_ the heir, and his sister was certainly brilliant enough to fill Haggar’s role in his cabinet, whatever that actually was._ _


	2. Chapter 2

“You missed dinner.”

Lotor startled at the unfamiliar voice, turning in his seat to see the soldier from earlier with the patchy bodysuit and battered armour. Great, he was expected to room with someone as abjectly disrespectful as _them_? He’d have to get them to request a room change, since the officers here were almost certainly under orders not to listen to him.

“Not hungry.” he shrugged, the lie falling easily from his lips. Dayak had withheld his dinner more than once for failing to meet her expectations, one more missed meal was nothing.

The soldier stared him down for a moment, then reached up to remove their helmet with an odd little twist-tilt-tug motion that spoke to a broken sealing mechanism, something no sane officer would let any of their troops wear. Then the helmet came off, and Lotor’s eyes widened. She was an omega, but more startling was her face. There was a roundness to it, her cheeks and still soft, and her _eyes_. Her eyes were like his, liquid gold giving way in the center to dark irises and darker pupils. “You’re a kit.” he said dumbly, and she scoffed as she walked over to the other bed. Her bed, he supposed.

“So’re you.” she retorted, stripping off her armour piece by piece.

“Yeah, but I’m here on the Emperor’s orders.” he frowned, setting down the datapad he’d found in his desk. “What are you doing on a base like this?”

“Does it matter?” she asked, still not looking at him.

“Yes, it rather does.” Lotor said, and was grateful when she turned at that. Father wasn’t stupid, he would’ve ordered the soldiers to be against him from day one, but this kit wasn’t a soldier. She had no reason to be against him, and if he was going to get off this rock and out among the stars to rescue his brother himself he’d need all the help he could get. “I’ll certainly be called back to High Command before long, Father won’t stand for me to fall too far behind on my studies and Dayak won’t move all the way out here. If I know why you’re here, I can pull some strings and bring you with me when I leave.”

She eyed him warily, claws curled against a rerebrace clutched in both her hands. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I could use an ally, and I think you could too.” he held out a hand. “Deal?”

Her gaze flicked from his face to his hand and back, still suspicious, and he tried to look as sincere as possible. “I’m here because I was born here.” she said at length, setting the rerebrace down on her bed with the rest of her armour. “And you’re saying, what, if I show you how to fly under the radar here then I can come with when you leave?”

“More or less.”

“Then we have a deal.” she took his extended hand, gripping it firmly as she raised it between their chests. “My name is Acxa.”

“Lotor.” he grinned, leaving off his title and family name. Ranks and propriety were for dealing with underlings, not allies, and Acxa was his ally.

“Never roomed with a prince before.” Acxa mused as she released Lotor’s hand, turning back to her bed to continue removing her armour.

“Have you ever share this room with anyone?” he asked, and she stilled. Only for a tick, but it was enough for him to regret asking.

“Not since well before I presented.” she said, her words sounding carefully picked. “Breakfast’s at 0600 vargas, you’ll want to be there.”

“I plan to be.” Lotor assured her, returning to his desk. Perhaps his stint on this ancients-forsaken rock would prove fruitful after all.

\---

Breakfast, as it turned out, was as pitiful as everything else on this shithole of a base. Overcooked, under-seasoned, and with so many preservatives added they made his nose tingle unpleasantly. “You call this food?” he grumbled, prodding at the lump with his spork as he followed Acxa through the mess hall.

“Hey, this is a good day.” Acxa held her tray closer, as if anyone would want to take her portion of the disgusting excuse for a meal.

“I dread seeing what the bad days look like.” he muttered under his breath.

“Aww, look, the li’l halfies are getting their grub together.” an officer sneered, stepping into the aisle between tables. Lotor sidestepped, and stopped short as the soldier moved to keep blocking his path.

“Do you mind?” he frowned up at the officer.

“I mind your attitude.” the larger alpha smirked maliciously, and batted Lotor’s tray out of his hands with ease. “Whoops.”

Lotor bristled, claws unsheathing, but a hand on his elbow stopped him from actually challenging the officer to a duel. Well, a hand and some quick words from its owner. “Good morning, Tredak.” Acxa said brightly, her voice several notes higher and sweeter than anything he’d heard out of her so far. “Would you like an extra portion of breakfast? They’ve your favourite today.” she held out her own tray, and the officer grinned as he plucked it from her hands.

“See, kit? The omega’s got the right of it.” he turned away, and Lotor wanted nothing so much as to stalk after him and take the food back. But doing so would be outright suicide, given his status as a new arrival and currently someone without status.

“Come on.” Acxa tugged at his elbow until he followed her to a table in the back corner of the mess hall. “This is where I sit. Since you’re rooming with me, and everyone on base seems to think the Emperor has sent you here to forget about, they’ll expect you to sit here as well.”

Lotor eyed the table and its chairs, they looked even cheaper and flimsier than the furniture in their room, and at a nudge from his foot one of the chairs wobbled like its connecting parts had all been removed.

“Oh, don’t sit on that one.” Acxa said quickly. “They took the screws out as a prank, but, well.” she grimaced, and Lotor had no doubt about the outcome of that particular ‘prank’.

“And nobody’s fixed it?” he asked, taking a seat next to the trapped one.

“I’m the only one who sits here, so it’s not exactly a priority.” Acxa shrugged.

“So why not do it yourself?” Lotor frowned.

Acxa shrugged again, slouching in her seat. “Tried to requisition the parts, got declined.”

“So take them.”

She barked out a laugh at that, sharp and grating, and the smile which followed was hollow but not cruel. “Take the parts yourself, if you want to see what they’ll do to you.”

Well, that didn’t sound ominous at all. Lotor folded his arms on the table and leaned on his elbows, looking out at the mess hall. “Why are we even sitting here, if neither of us have food?” he asked. Another shrug from Acxa, but this time without verbal accompaniment. “I’m going to go break the high scores on their simulators.” he told her, standing up and kicking his chair back in under the table. “Show me where they are.”

“We’ll have chores to do.” she warned him, but stood and pushed her own chair in.

“Not until breakfast is over.” he grinned, and was pleased to see her smile back at him. Father thought that intimidation was the way to undying loyalty, but Lotor had found that trust and mutual benefit worked much better. “I’ll probably need a co-pilot for some of the higher difficulty sims.” he said casually as Acxa lead him out into the hall.

“Probably.” she agreed, and he frowned slightly.

“You can fly, can you not?”

“Some.” she shrugged again. He was starting to wonder if it was a tic. “Never been allowed in a sim bigger than a drone fighter, though.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Lotor frowned. The tick Father had discovered he and his brother had potential as pilots he’d had Dayak start putting them in a sim for anything they could reach the controls on, and studying the rest. Unless the base’s sims were in extraordinarily high demand, there was no reason to restrict a future pilot’s pre-enlistment education to something she’d likely never even fly in real life.

“That’s just how it is.” she shrugged again.

“Why do you keep doing that?” he asked, and Acxa blinked at him. “Why do you keep shrugging?” he clarified. She shrugged again. He bit back a growl of frustration, and stamped down on the urge to use his shapeshifting to loom over her. “Weirdo.” he huffed instead, crossing his arms.

“Blame my dad.” she smiled, and it was that same lifeless one from earlier, hollow and patently fake. “It’s his half of my DNA that’s non-galran, after all.”

“And why should that matter?” Lotor frowned. Acxa stumbled, and turned to face him with a look of utmost confusion.

“I’m only _half_ galra. Why wouldn’t it matter?”

“Half-breeds have been full citizens of the Empire for over ten thousand deca-phoebs, though.” Lotor pointed out. “I’m half.” his ears twitched slightly, and he opted not to mention what exactly his other half was. There was a reason he kept his skin shifted purple, after all.

“Yeah, half Zarkon.” Acxa scoffed. “It’s different for you.”

“It’s really not.”

“Riiight.” Acxa rolled her eyes. “Sims are in here.” she gestured to a door, and when Lotor stopped she kept moving. “Have fun.” she waved over her shoulder, and Lotor was left watching her walk away with a small frown on his face. Her loyalty was going to take more work to earn than he initially thought.


	3. Chapter 3

“Y’know, most people in your situation would’ve learnt how to keep their mouth shut by now.” Acxa sighed, handing him a dampened gauze pad. Lotor scowled, and patted around the still sluggishly bleeding gash in his upper arm.

“I wasn’t about to let him push you around.” he said, his voice low and dark. Logically it made sense not to let the newest soldier on base push Acxa around, the two of them occupied the same social rung here and any aggression towards her would soon be visited on him as well. It was logical to protect himself by protecting her.

“You really don’t have to stick up for me, you know.” she said softly, handing him dry gauze and medical tape. “Especially now that you’ll be leaving in a few phoebs.”

“Acxa.” Lotor pinned the gauze between his arm and body, and reached out to gently tilt her head up until she met his eyes. “My impending departure is all the more reason for us to stick up for each other.”

“I’ll only be here alone for a few phoebs.” she chuckled, brushing his hand away and reaching out to finish wrapping his bandage. “These past three deca-phoebs with you have been nice, but I did survive thirteen of them before you got shipped out here.”

“You’d be surprised how much more it hurts, the second time.” he muttered, mostly to himself. Acxa taped down the edge of the bandage, and flicked him on the cheek.

“Don’t worry about me.” she admonished him, dropping the gauze back in its little decontaminating pouch. “Worry about the people you’ll have to impress when you enlist as an officer.”

“Please.” Lotor scoffed. “I could beat most of the first year enlisted officers in a swordfight before I even came out here, and when I get back to civilisation being a halfie won’t even be an issue anymore.”

“Is it really that different, when you’re not on the rim?” she asked, sounding almost wistful.

“Absolutely.” Lotor nodded. “And most of the time, it doesn’t even matter what species your non-galra parent was. As long as you’re not descended from something in the slave caste, having one fully galra parent is enough to make you a first class citizen.”

“Lucky us.” she chuckled, and Lotor carefully kept his smile from going brittle. She didn’t know, _nobody_ knew, that was rather the point. Well, nobody but his siblings, and Father of course, and possibly Haggar. She always seemed to know everything, it wouldn’t surprise him if she knew that too.

“Yeah, lucky us.” he agreed, pulling his bodysuit back on properly. The white of the bandages showed starkly through the gash in his sleeve, and he picked at the edges with a grimace.

“Wanna go to the range?” Acxa asked, putting away the medical kit.

“You just want to show me up again.” he rolled his eyes, but stood and started for the door with her.

“Who, me? Never.” she grinned, a quick little flash of a thing, and Lotor couldn’t help but smile back. It had been logical to protect her, yes, but he hadn’t acted because it was the logical thing to do. He’d acted because somehow, sometime in the past three deca-phoebs, he’d come to actually care about her. She was practically clade, by this point, and he’d been unable to protect his pack but at the very least he could still defend his clade the way a leader should.

“When you’re old enough, you should enlist as an officer.” he said as they approached the door to the range. Acxa looked over at him, eyebrows high on her forehead.

“An officer? You do know that requires someone to sponsor me, right?”

“You do know who my father is, right?” Lotor mimicked her tone, and her eyes widened.

“You would do that for me?”

“Why not?” he asked with a shrug. “We already work well together, and when I’m an officer I’ll need a second.”

“You want me to be your second.” she said, her voice flat and echoing slightly in the range as the door shut behind them. “You’re the Prince, and you want a halfbreed omega _nobody_ from the rim as your right hand?”

“Well, my military right hand.” he conceded. “I did already promise my sister that she’d be my chief scientific advisor when I take the throne.”

“Of course, but still. Me?”

“Once we’re away from here, your heritage and presentation won’t matter in the slightest.” Lotor picked up the twin pistols his friend favoured, and pressed them into her hands. “All that will matter is your skill with these, your ability to pass the officer’s tests, and my word in your favour.”

Acxa looked down at the weapons in her hands, fingers curling around the grips, and a small smile grew on her face. “Thank you, Lotor.”

\---

“And you’re sure of this?”

“Pretty sure, Sir. Are we going to allow it to allow it?”

Lotor paused with his hand over the operation panel for the storeroom door, ears tilting slightly forwards. He didn’t make a habit of eavesdropping, but he wasn’t about to interrupt what could potentially be a very interesting conversation. 

“What do you take me for, Rantok?” the Sub-Commander scoffed. “She’s property of the base, no matter what ideas that other halfie’s been putting in her head. No, we’ll scuttle her application with a criminal record, and then she’ll have no choice but to stay here.”

“With only as much freedom as she earns.” Rantok mused, and Lotor stepped silently back from the door, horror filling him like grav-ice, weighing down on his limbs, on his lungs. He turned on his heel and hurried back down the hall as quickly as he could, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. He’d been wrong, horribly wrong, his plans for the future had banked on the officers here being glad to see Acxa gone regardless of where she went but he’d underestimated the depths of their hatred.

He barely breathed until the door of their room shut behind him, and Acxa looked up from the datapad of coursework she was completing with a questioning sound. He fell back against the door and drew a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut as he ran through facts and options. They wanted to keep her here, to take his clade from him like that druid had taken his brother. He wouldn’t allow that, they couldn’t have Acxa too, she was _his_ and he would fight tooth and claw to keep it that way.

“Lotor?” Acxa’s voice filtered through to him, as if from a great distance, and he abruptly realised he’d stopped breathing again after that deep inhale. He let his breath out all at once, and let his knees bend, sliding down to sit on the floor.

“We have to leave.” he said, and his voice sounded distant to his own ears.

“We’re going to.” Acxa knelt next to him, taking one of his hands in both her own, her immaculately sharpened claws pressing against his skin. “Three phoebs for you, six for me, and then we never have to think about this place again.”

“No.” he shook his head, trying to focus on the pinpricks of pressure from Acxa’s claws to ground himself. “No, we can’t stay that long.”

“Why not?” she frowned, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he realized she didn’t _know_.

“The officers.” he said, his voice sounding hoarse now that it wasn’t coming from so far away. “They won’t let you leave, not to enlist with me.”

“No.” she breathed, her eyes wide.

“Sub-Commander Trynor would rather have you here under his thumb than out of his way.” he swallowed, and gripped Acxa’s hand in his. “I’d sooner see him dead than let him take you from me.” a growl rumbled low in his chest, and he lifted his other hand to grip Acxa at the elbow. “We’re leaving here together, I swear it on my mother’s grave.”

Her eyebrows lowered, lips pressing into a thin line as she nodded. “What’s our plan?”

“That, I do not yet know.” Lotor admitted, pulling Acxa with him as he stood. “But whatever we do, we must ensure that Trynor cannot report our absence.”

“So we destroy the signal tower. I know how to get into the armoury, it won’t stand a chance against a few packs of gelignite.”

“No.” Lotor shook his head, going over to his desk and falling into his chair. “A signal tower can be repaired, and even if we did manage to reach other galra before it was fixed there’s no guarantee they would believe us over a senior officer. Especially this far into the fringes of the Empire.” he grimaced. The first year or so here, the distance from Dayak and Haggar and Father had been a blessing. Now, however, it was a curse. Between their youth and blood status, they would be hard pressed to find people within the Empire who’d take them seriously.

“You’re thinking something more permanent.” Acxa said, not asking but simply stating a fact. “Lotor, even for you, that’s a life sentence. He’ll never accept an honourable duel.”

“Coward knows I’d win.” Lotor huffed, pulling up the map of the base on his datapad. “As I see it, we have two options. Make the Sub-Commander think we were kidnapped, or make a big enough mess when we leave that the next supply ship assumes it was enemy action.”

“Lotor.” Acxa laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re talking about murder. Mass murder. Why not just sneak aboard the next supply ship before it leaves?”

“I’m talking about protecting my clade.” he snarled, ducking his head over his datapad. “Stowing away on the supply ship is too great a risk, it puts us at the mercy of an unknown captain and if it’s delayed even by a movement I’ll be gone and you’ll be locked up.”

“They can’t lock me up without cause.” Acxa’s hand on his shoulder tightened.

“You think they’re above fabricating crimes in your record?” he asked rhetorically. “That’s their entire plan for keeping you here after I’m meant to leave. Fill your record with trumped-up charges to get your application rejected.” he clenched his hands, claws biting into his palms nearly hard enough to draw blood. “We cannot afford to do this by halves.”

“Alright.” Acxa stepped away, and he heard the scrape of metal on metal before her chair swung into place next to his and she dropped into it, a resolute look on her face. “So how are we going to play this?”

“Very, very carefully.” he zoomed the map in, and traced a finger along the path from their room to the hangar where non-fighter ships were kept. “First, we need a way off this rock.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Weapons?” Lotor asked, touching a hand to the hilt of his energy blade on his hip.

“Check.” Acxa palmed over her twin pistols. “Ammo too.”

“Rations?” he moved his hand to the bag on his back, feeling the vacuum-sealed nutrient bars and water pouches in the bottom of it.

“Check.” Acxa patted her own bag.

“Personal effects?” he touched the pocket holding a data chip with all the files from his personal communicator, the only non-living thing he had left to lose.

Acxa stooped to scoop Kova up in her arms, then reached out to touch Lotor’s shoulder. “Check.” she smiled, and he returned the expression briefly before turning to the door.

“Three, two, o-” an explosion rocked the base around them, and their door slid open at a touch to the operation panel despite the enforced curfew they were both under. More explosions rattled the very air around them, and Lotor palmed his sword hilt as they approached the first block in their way. A locked door between them and spaceworthy suits, one of the few things they hadn’t been able to circumvent in the past phoeb of preparation. Not that Acxa hadn’t figured out _how_ , just... it wasn’t exactly subtle.

Acxa indicated a slight mark on the wall, little more than a scuff, and made a vertical chopping motion. Lotor activated his sword to swing down at it, and his blade glanced off the metal. A quick flick of his thumb bumped the energy blade to its highest setting, and this time he put his whole body weight into the swing. It rent the metal in two, along with the wires behind, and the door popped open. Not half as much as he’d expected, though.

“I’ve got these.” Acxa said, shoving her shoulder into the gap and bracing one foot against the doorjam. “You get our ride ready.”

“Stay safe.” he said, catching her hand and squeezing it. She squeezed back with a smile, and Kova jumped from her other arm to Lotor’s shoulders, claws digging into the pauldron and the narrow space between his collar faring and neck. He reached back to his bag, flipping the top flap up, and Kova immediately jumped down into the relative safety offered. Lotor buckled the flap shut, and took off down the hall, electing to ignore Kova’s hissing at being jostled. Better to have an angry cheoc than a dead or forgotten one.

Another explosion went off, and Lotor was suddenly _immensely_ grateful for Acxa’s suggestion to stagger the timers. Every soldier and officer was rushing around, far too busy with the supposed pirate attack to bother with him as long as he stayed out of their way. He palmed a keycard off one of the officers, and with it unlocked the hangar. They needed something fast, with enough firepower to defend themselves and enough fuel to at least reach the next system. There was only one ship on this miserable rock which met those requirements.

He hurried across the hangar to a control terminal, using the officer’s keycard to unlock it, and was surprised to find a fuelling command already running. On the very ship he’d meant to hijack, no less! A grin grew on his face, and he strode over to where Trynor’s personal Corel-class ship was parked. It was bigger and better armoured than a starskimmer, but only just, and he knew from snooping about in the base’s expenditures record that Trynor had been syphoning off funds to ‘improve’ his vessel. Most notably, by upgrading the engines from high end intra-system ones to a slipstream capable set. Their ticket out.

A pair of sentries stood at the foot of the short boarding ramp, and Lotor lifted his stolen keycard as he approached them. “I’ve been sent to verify Trynor’s ship is ready for his departure.” he said smoothly, and the drones stepped aside. He tossed aside the keycard two steps past them, and turned around halfway up the ramp. “My associate will be joining me shortly. Permit her entry.”

The sentries saluted, and Lotor continued up the ramp to set his bag down inside the ship. Kova hissed inside, and he debated opening the bag. It only took a tick to decide against it, and he walked back to the open door to watch for Acxa’s arrival. Every tick that passed felt like an eternity as the explosions boomed slowly but surely towards the hangar and his roommate didn’t burst through the doors. This was a somewhat time-sensitive plan, and if she didn’t arrive... Lotor clenched his jaw, flexing his claws in and out as he forced himself not to storm down the ramp. If she was caught, he had to remain on the ship so he could shoot the cell block open and free her.

“Where are you?” he muttered under his breath, chewing the inside of his cheek as another explosion went off. At this rate... he shook his head slightly. He couldn’t afford to speculate, could only take what he was given and twist it to his advantage.

The door slid open, and he did his best not to visibly sag with relief as Acxa ran in, a bundle of fabric and one helmet in her arms, the other helmet on her head. “What kept you?” he asked as the sentries stepped aside to let her board.

“Had to find suits in our sizes.” she shoved the fabric into his arms and turned on her heel, hands moving to the guns on her hips. “Get us airborn, I’ll keep Trynor from stopping us.”

“Why don’t you do that from the turret?” he grinned, jerking his head towards the narrow entrance on the wall behind him, just opposite the door which lead to the cockpit. Acxa’s eyes widened momentarily, then narrowed again as she mirrored his vicious grin.

“With pleasure, Sir.” she snapped a salute, and Lotor stifled a giggle as she hurried up the ladder. Hitting the button to raise the ramp, he made his way quickly up to the cockpit. Its windshield made up nearly half the snub-nosed cone, and it didn’t take him long to find the button for the external speakers. The internal comms were similarly easy to locate, the dashboard was a fairly standard layout for a Corel-class, and when the doors opened he brought up the comm in the upper gun turret.

“Acxa, hold your fire a moment.” he said, hands flying over the controls to get the engines warming up.

“Why?” she asked, and he smiled as he held his finger over the button that’d turn on the exterior speakers.

“I think Trynor deserves to know who’s bested him, wouldn’t you agree?” he silenced the interior comms with a tap, and cleared his throat as the systems switched over to let him address the Sub-Commander. “Good afternoon.” he purred, doing his best imitation of the tone he’d heard Father use in old recorded speeches.

Trynor’s eyes fairly bulged out of his head, and Lotor snickered meanly. “I’d like to thank you, Sub-Commander.” he continued, meeting the alpha’s eyes across the hangar. “Without your cowardice, we would’ve had a much harder time commandeering this vessel.” the display for the engine status blinked green, and Lotor grinned as he saw debris fly past the open hangar doors from another explosion. Trynor was yelling something, but from this distance Lotor couldn’t tell what.

“So sorry to cut and run, Sub-Commander, but you see.” he chuckled again, tapping the comms to the upper turret back online. “In the event of an attack on a military installation, civilians are allowed to ensure their safety by whatever means they deem necessary.” Acxa recognised her cue, and Lotor heard the turret whirring to life. “Vrepit Sa, Sir.”

He shut off the exterior speakers as Acxa opened fire, blasting high-energy bolts into the ground around Trynor, sending the sentries around him up in a flurry of sparks and flames. The Sub-Commander staggered backwards, and as Acxa chased him with the turret Lotor readied the ship for launch. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a bolt clip the fuel tank near the door, and in the next tick everything seemed to happen very fast.

Trynor stumbled, Acxa’s next shot struck the tank dead on, and the fireball bloomed as they shot out of the hangar, flames quite literally hot on their tail. The controls were stiff, calibrated for use by a brute who didn’t know how to control their own strength, but he managed to fight the ship’s nose up and into a tight loop back around towards the base. It was ablaze in multiple places, but that wasn’t enough. Nobody could know what they’d done.

“Acxa, open fire on the base.” he tightened his grip on the controls, a low growl building in his throat as he thought of how the soldiers had treated him, treated _them_ the past few deca-phoebs. How they’d planned to strip Acxa of her freedom and _use_ her, despite how they’d claimed to be repulsed by her heritage. “Target the generator.”

“But without the generator-”

“Do it.” he snapped, banking to keep the generator well in range of Acxa’s guns. “We can afford no survivors.”

“Understood.” she said, and two ticks later a spectacular fireball was erupting from the center of the base. Lotor pulled on the controls, wrestling the nose of the ship towards the stars, and pushed the engines as close to slipstream as he could without Acxa in the copilot’s seat to input coordinates. Stars filled his vision, and he relaxed back against the seat with a sigh as near-silent footsteps announced Acxa’s arrival.

“So, where to?”

“Wherever we want.”


	5. Chapter 5

Lotor leaned back in the pilot’s sea, idly tossing a small ball up to catch as it came down. With their navigational computer shorted out, getting to slipstream speed was so risky as to be suicidal. That left them with just the two systems to work through, half a dozen outposts to take down and eight habitable planets to claim. eight chances to find a ship that was slipstream capable, large enough to live in, and pilotable by two people. It was harder than it sounded, they’d found more than he cared to count which fit one or two of the requirements, but all three was apparently a rare thing indeed.

A beep from the radar drew his attention back to the moment, and Lotor lowered his feet from the dash to take a look. An Imperial ship, Danto-class. It must’ve come from the planet they were heading for, its fuel tank wasn’t big enough for anything else. Plus, it was approaching from the front.

“This is Imperial Spaceship Caron Danto 5, hailing on all radio frequencies. Unregistered vessel, you are operating in restricted space.”

Well, quiznack. He’d hoped to avoid interacting with Imperial forces until he had a bit more of territory to his name, more planets to stand behind him and serve as proof of his capability, but they didn’t exactly have a choice anymore. “Caron Danto 5, this is Iostar Corel 1. We are well aware of the restrictions on travel within this system.”

“Iostar?” the soldier on the other end scoffed. “Nice try, they’re half a galaxy over and got blasted to hell last deca-phoeb.”

“I know. We were there.” he answered drily. “Sub-Commander Trynor had us evacuated shortly before the generator went, and we’ve been adrift ever since.”

“Who is this?” another voice asked, and Lotor took a deep breath in through his nose. Time for the real gamble.

“This is Prince Lotor, firstborn of Emperor Zarkon.” he straightened up as he spoke, lifting his chin slightly. “Now, will you lead us to your base or will I be forced to find it myself?”

“Of course not, Your Highness!” he heard muffled scrambling and arguing on the other end of the line, and bit back a chuckle at their audible panic as the Danto-class turned around. “Right this way. You just follow us, we’ll call ahead to let the Sub-Commander know you’re coming.”

“Good.” he nodded his head once. “Tell them that I expect accomodations for myself and the other survivor of Iostar to be equal.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”  
“Of course, Sir.”

He ended the call without another word and sat back in his chair again, keeping his hands lightly on the controls to easily course-correct as needed. Loathe as he was to accept help from his father’s citizens, he couldn’t deny that the idea of having a proper hot shower again was quite an attractive one.

\---

“And how did you escape, again?” the Sub-Commander asked, inspecting his claws with an air of boredom that set Lotor on edge. This one was much more competent than Trynor, more sure of himself, and far more dangerous. He would have to be on utmost alert here if he wanted to leave free and not be shipped back to his father’s side without his clade or enough territory to back his claims of competency.

“Trynor thought that if he ensured my safety, he could curry favour with Emperor Zarkon.” he repeated, the story easy to tell after a deca-phoeb of intermittent rehearsal. “He had his personal ship prepared, and I refused to leave without the other civilian on base.” he gestured to Acxa at his side, and forced himself not to grit his teeth at how she stood, head bowed and shoulders hunched around Kova in her arms, submissive to an alpha who’d not earned her respect but demanded it.

“And why is the coward not with you?” the Sub-Commander asked, and Lotor let his lips purse to avoid smiling at the memory.

“He told us to wait while he retrieved some things from his quarters.” he fibbed, careful to keep his eyes on the Sub-Commander. “Regretfully, we were forced to take off before he arrived.”

The Sub-Commander shook his head with a deep sigh, muttering something Lotor couldn’t quite make out save for the word fool. Which, he had to admit, was a fair assessment of the late officer. Foolish and greedy and cowardly, a disgrace to the armour he’d worn and died in. “Escort them to the guest officer’s room.” the Sub-Commander waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll inform the Emperor his wayward son has been found with our next data transmission.”

This far out, that could mean anywhere from tomorrow to next month, and he couldn’t afford that kind of uncertainty. “Sir.” he stepped forward, and the Sub-Commander’s eyes snapped to him, lips peeling back slightly to show his teeth. Lotor squared his shoulders and refused to back down. “As guests on your base, what permissions will we have?” he gestured at himself and Acxa, and didn’t miss the way the Sub-Commander’s eyes flickered over her before returning to him.

“You may go anywhere which does not require special permissions, so long as a pair of sentries are with you.”

“Sentries?” Lotor cocked an eyebrow. “I assure you, I am more than capable of navigating an Imperial base.”

“They are for your protection.” the Sub-Commander elaborated. “The natives have been restless of late.”

Lotor held his tongue and merely nodded, adding the local population to his list of potential resources. If they were close enough to pose a threat inside the base though... “What sort of entertainment is there to be had around here?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. “The selection on Trynor’s ship was dismal.” and that was putting it kindly. He’d deleted over half the files on the ship’s drive in their first two days out of Iostar.

“I’ll have some sent to your quarters.” the Sub-Commander waved his hand dismissively, and Lotor inclined his head briefly as he saluted.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Sir. My father will know what you have done for us.” he straightened up, and turned to hold out an arm to Acxa as was expected. Kova hopped up onto her shoulder as she looped her arm through his, as soon as her back was to the Sub-Commander she rolled her eyes. His mouth twitched up at one corner, but he quickly smoothed his face back into an impassive mask. Among galra of the Empire he had certain standards to live up to, as did Acxa. He kept a watchful eye on their surroundings as the sentry lead them through the base, Acxa’s claws pressed to the side of his elbow and her back ramrod straight. It was unlikely they would be attacked outright, but equally unlikely that they’d get out of here free without a fight.

“Guest Quarters 2.” the sentry intoned, stopping outside a door and touching the operation panel to open it. Lotor ushered Acxa in first, and as soon as the door shut behind them he turned to the operation panel and locked it. Acxa was already running her fingers over seams and along edges, and Lotor joined her in checking for surveillance devices as Kova made himself at home on one of the beds.

“Seems good.” Acxa concluded after a couple doboshes, and Lotor popped the side panel of the desk back into place before standing.

“Indeed.” he agreed, and went to sit on the edge of the bed Kova had curled up on. They were wider than the ones back in that cell of a room in Iostar, softer too, but the room didn’t feel much bigger than the one he’d shared with his sister before his exile. He touched a hand to the pocket which held his data chip, and looked around the room again. “Well, it’s better than our old quarters.” he said drily, and Acxa chuckled.

“The ship is better than that cell.” she said firmly, and he nodded his agreement as he reached back to rub behind Kova’s ears. “What was that question about entertainment for?” she asked after a few ticks of silence. “We’ll not be here more than a few quintants.”

“Think about it.” Lotor lifted his hand from Kova as the cheoc gave him a warning chirp and reached for his hip pouch instead, taking out the ball he’d been playing with earlier and turning it in his hand. “The Sub-Commander could’ve given us any number of reasons as to why his spy-sentries should remain with us within the base, but he claimed security.”

“So there are locals on base.” Acxa pursed her lips. “It’s not uncommon, but I fail to... see...” she trailed off, her eyes widening, and Lotor nodded grimly.

“At best they are perfectly legitimate entertainers, at worst...” he left the sentence hanging, letting Acxa fill in the blank herself. “Either way, they will have knowledge of the base.” he brushed his hair back over his shoulder with a slight frown, and made a note to ask Acxa trim it soon.

“And how do you plan to get them to tell us?” Acxa raised an eyebrow pointedly.

“Asking.” he tossed the ball over to her. “I assure you, there is no love lost between the Empire and the people they subjugate.”

“And you think an entertainer will have information we can use? I doubt they’ll know anything about the base’s defenses or communications.”

“Perhaps not, but they may know other locals who do. What’s most important is finding out how long ago their last data transmission was, which should be public knowledge.”

“So that we know how long we have to recreate our Iostar escape?” Acxa lobbed the ball back at him, and he caught it on reflex.

“Not quite.” he set the ball down and leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his thighs and resting his fingertips together in front of his chin. “Iostar was the back end of nowhere, Caron is remote but they do send materials back to the Empire.”

“So we have to keep it operational enough nobody comes looking.” Acxa lifted her hand to her chin with a thoughtful frown. “You’re going to try giving this base to the locals, aren’t you?”

“If they’ll have it, yes.”

“And if not?”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.”


	6. Chapter 6

Lotor was just starting to wonder if the Sub-Commander had forgotten about them when the sharp sound of metal on metal rang from the door, one of the sentries outside knocking. “What is it?” he asked, lobbing the ball over to Acxa as he stood and walked over to the door.

“Your entertainment has arrived.” the sentry droned, and Lotor allowed himself a grin.

“Excellent.” he tapped the button to unlock and open the door, and stepped aside to usher the local in. “We are not to be disturbed.” he told the sentries as she breezed past him, and shut the door again. A low growl behind him made his hair stand on end, and he turned to see Acxa with her teeth gritted and claws digging into the soft foam of the ball they’d been tossing back and forth.

“Lotor, _please_ tell me we can at least repeat the latter half of Iostar here.” she snarled, eyes locked on the entertainer who’d been sent to them. Immediately, he understood.

“I think we should leave that up to her.” he inclined his head at the entertainer, who looked over her shoulder with a small frown.

“You didn’t really want entertainment, did you?” she asked, sharp blue eyes fixing him with a calculating gaze.

“No.” Lotor walked over to Acxa’s bed and sat next to her, gesturing at his own empty bed. “Sit, I believe we have much to discuss.”

“Well, I won’t say no to a freebie.” she sat down heavily on the edge of the mattress, and Kova let out a sharp honk of surprise as he was bounced into the air. Acxa sniggered next to him, and Lotor grinned as he watched Kova and the entertainer eye each other.

“My name is Lotor.” he said as Kova leaned in to sniff a cautiously proffered orange-red hand.

“Mine is Acxa.” Acxa provided when he elbowed her.

“I’m Ezor.” Ezor said as Kova deemed her suitable and climbed into her lap. “Who’s this little cutie?”

“Kova.” Lotor smiled. “He likes you.”

“Aww.” Ezor smiled, and carefully ran a finger down the middle of Kova’s head. “So, I hope you know just because I live here doesn’t mean I know everything that goes on.”

“I didn’t expect you would.” Lotor assured her, relaxing slightly as Kova melted into her touch. His cheoc was perhaps the best judge of character he’d ever met, and that he’d taken to this local halfie as quickly as he did Acxa could only mean she was trustworthy.

“So, what do you want from me?” Ezor rolled her shoulders and leaned back on one hand, making the shiny beads sewn to her top flash in the light.

“Information.” Lotor forced his eyes back to hers, and found her smirking. “Primarily, the date of this base’s last data transfer.”

“Two movements ago.” Ezor answered easily, shifting slightly to make her top catch the light again. Her grin widened, and Lotor glanced over to see Acxa blushing. He elbowed her sharply and she looked away, cheeks darkening further as Ezor giggled. “I _am_ a professional, y’know.” she winked, and Acxa’s cheeks purpled further. “It’s been a while since I got to entertain another omega, let alone someone my own age.”

Acxa tensed at that, and Lotor turned his attention back to Ezor. “I’m sorry, how old are you?” he frowned, and she sat up properly, one hand still idly petting Kova in her lap.

“Seventeen deca-phoebs, next phoeb.”

Acxa’s jaw clenched, and Lotor grabbed her forearm to ground her. “And how long have you been an ‘entertainer’ here?”

Ezor shrugged, but the movement was stiff, mechanical. “Long enough to know what I’m doing.” she said, the phrase audibly rote.

“How would you like to change that?” Lotor leaned forwards slightly, and Ezor’s hand stilled on Kova’s back.

“You don’t ask that question.” she said softly. “As long as Zarkon lives, as long as the Empire stands, we are its property. I’m an entertainer, I dance and sing, I stand around and look pretty and do what I’m told and they let me live.”

Acxa made a wounded little noise, and Lotor slid his hand down to hers so she could feel the pressure of his grip. “You don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked, and Ezor shook her head. “I am Prince Lotor, son and heir of Emperor Zarkon.” her head snapped up, eyes wide, and he gave her his most sinister grin. “So, I’ll ask you again. How would you like to change things?”

“I’d like that very much.” Ezor grinned back, sharp and cruel and full of wickedly pointed teeth.

“Then we are agreed.” Lotor stood and crossed the room to hold a hand out to her. “You put me in contact with your people’s leaders, and in two movements’ time Caron will be back in the hands of those it truly belongs to.”

Ezor stared at his hand, then up at him, then looked back at his hand and firmed her jaw as she stopped petting Kova. The cheoc vacated her lap, and when she grasped his forearm firmly Lotor returned the grip and pulled her to her feet.

“If you end up getting the honour of handling the Sub-Commander, I’ll hold him down for you.” Acxa offered, and Ezor snorted.

“I’m sure you won’t have to.” she flashed another smile, her eyes cold and hard. “He’ll never see me coming.”

\---

“I wasn’t aware you knew how to fight.” Lotor raised an eyebrow at Ezor as she sauntered over to them, splattered in three colours of blood, two types of oil, and possibly spent quintessence.

“Neither were they.” Acxa muttered at his side, and Ezor smiled wide.

“Soldiers, dissidents, and unfixable sentries have been taken care of.” she said brightly, clasping her hands together.

“Excellent.” Lotor allowed himself a small smile. “Casualties?”

“Barely any. Zara’s getting the injured rounded up and Stasol’s already working on getting the base systems to recognise roanic biometrics in addition to galran ones.”

“Good, good.” Lotor nodded. “And Ek?”

“Shot in the shoulder. He’s not happy about it, but he’s alive and told me to slug you.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lotor said as Acxa chuckled at his side. “Well, if all your leaders are still alive and the sentry forces are largely intact, I think it’s time we took our leave.”

“Oh, lemme show you to the hangars!” Ezor said quickly, darting around to stay in front of him as he turned. “I saw that hunk ‘a junk you came in, we’ve got way better.”

“By all means.” he gestured for Ezor to take the lead, and elbowed Acxa when he caught her watching the ex-entertainer’s ass.

“Spoilsport.” she huffed under her breath, and he rolled his eyes as Kova leapt from her shoulder to his. The walk to the hangar was short and silent, the sounds of a burgeoning celebration fading as they walked away from the main gathering of roans.

“You could stay, you know.” Ezor said as she stopped outside a wide doorway. “Ek and Stasol would love to have you around.”

Lotor bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from reacting, and took a deliberate breath before he answered. “It’s not my place.” he said evenly. “I can provide some protection by claiming your world as my own, but it is _your_ world.”

Acxa gave him a strange look, and Lotor waved a hand dismissively. His motivations weren’t so simple as to be explained in a hallway while their ally opened the hangar door for them. Which, she didn’t seem to be doing. She was just standing there, fingers still on the operation panel, eyes fixed on him with an uncanny focus. “Were you going to open the hangar for us or not?” he asked, and she looked back at the panel.

“Right.” she tapped a few keys and the door slid open, revealing a much nicer hangar than Iostar’s. “We’ve got a decent selection, as you can see.” she gestured to the array of ships, from fighters all the way up to one particularly high-end TriAstra.

“That one.” Acxa grabbed his arm and pointed at the TriAstra.

“Too big.” Lotor shook his head regretfully. Not to mention they’d stick out like a sore thumb everywhere they went. Crappy as it was, their little Corel-class junker was quite good at flying under the radar.

“Damn.” Acxa pouted slightly.

“I’ve not been on many of them, but this one’s my favourite.” Ezor said brightly, all but literally bouncing over to a well-kept Corel-class not many model deca-phoebs older than the one they’d arrived in. “The shower’s great, and the bed’s nice and soft.”

“We do know how to handle a Corel-class.” he remarked to Acxa, who nodded thoughtfully.

“The guns look to be in good condition too.”

“Unobtrusive paint, though we’d have to cover up the Imperial insignia.” he muttered, circling around under the nose prongs towards the other side where the boarding ramp was.

“Which we’d have to do with any of these ships.” Acxa noted.

“True, true.” he nodded, and pulled up short. “Where’s the other escape pod?”

Ezor shrugged. “Lost, damaged, I never asked.”

Lotor pursed his lips and looked over at Acxa, who mirrored Ezor’s shrug. “We’ll fit in one.” her eyes flicked briefly to Ezor in a silent question, and Lotor considered the ex-entertainer. She was agile, and stronger than she appeared, and evidently skilled in combat. A tad undisciplined, perhaps, but until he had enough influence to carry himself and his future Generals into and through officer training loyalty was of far greater importance than the minutia of military discipline.

“Yes, we would.” he agreed, his eyes tracking a sluggish trickle of blood down Ezor’s shoulder blade. Her own, or an enemy’s? He couldn’t tell, but either way it was an indicator of her strength. Strength that this planet would have no use for, now that the base was free of Imperial troops. “All three of us.”

The smile Acxa flashed him was dazzling, and Ezor spun around to stare at them, at him. “Three?”

“Well, four counting Kova.” he conceded, lifting a hand to scratch behind his companion’s ears as the cheoc purred.

“We’d like you to come aboard.” Acxa said quickly, her eyes bright and hopeful. “We could always use some more muscle.”

“Muscle?” Ezor frowned, crossing her arms as she stepped back away from them. “Right, because that’s all-”

“Please.” Lotor scoffed, cutting her off before she could get going. “If I were the type to condone slavery, I would’ve left the Sub-Commander in charge and simply taken you along when we left. You don’t have to join if you want to stay.” his mouth twisted slightly, chest tightening with deca-phoebs old longing. “I would never force you to leave your home and family.”

Ezor blinked, then blinked again, evidently poleaxed by the fact that he’d just given her a choice. Silly, really, considering the revolution he’d facilitated just vargas ago. “I don’t have any.” she blurted after a few ticks of silence. “Family, that is.”

Acxa made a sympathetic noise low in her throat, and Lotor crossed his arms as he looked Ezor over again. Under the blood and too-big bodysuit, she looked far younger than her seventeen deca-phoebs. Young like Acxa when she woke from nightmares, like himself when he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror while Acxa patched him up after a fight.

“Neither did I.” Acxa said softly, saving him from having to figure out the proper way to respond to Ezor’s declaration. “Not until Lotor came along.”

“Aww.” he grinned, and her sharp elbow caught him just under the ribs.

“We’re clade.” Acxa gestured between them, then stepped forwards and held out a hand to Ezor. “We could be yours, if you come with us.”

Ezor looked from Acxa, to Lotor, and a small smile curled her lips. “Deal.” she stepped forward to grasp Acxa’s forearm. “On one condition.”

“Name it.” Lotor grinned. There were very few things she could request that would be too great a price to pay for a new member of their little clade-crew with strength like hers.

“We stick around for the victory party I’m sure Zara’s already planning.”

“Deal.” Acxa said, and Lotor sighed.

“Fine.” he acquiesced. “But as soon as it’s over, we’re off this rock.”

“Whatever you say, Sir.” Ezor’s teeth flashed in a playful smile, and Lotor rolled his eyes as she started dragging Acxa back towards the hangar doors. If nothing else, he could use the extra time to load their new ship with supplies.


	7. Chapter 7

“We should give the ship a name.”

Lotor looked up from his datapad, and lifted an eyebrow at the newest member of his crew and clade. “It has a name.”

“Caron Corel 2 isn’t a real name.” Ezor huffed, dropping the string she’d been teasing Kova with and rolling onto her back to give him an upside down pout. “If we’re living out of it, it should have a real name.”

“She’s got a point.” Acxa chimed in, not looking up from her game of holo-chess against the game table’s rudimentary AI. “We did technically steal this ship, so we shouldn’t go around introducing ourselves with the name of the base it came from.”

Lotor pursed his lips. “You keep taking her side.” he huffed after a moment, and Acxa glanced up at him with a smile.

“Only when she makes more sense.”

“Which is kinda always.” Ezor grinned. Lotor resisted the urge to flick his datapad at her.

“I assume since you’ve brought this up, you have a suggestion for the name?” he asked instead, setting the datapad down.

“Well, yeah.” Ezor rolled back onto her front and grinned brightly at him. “Skippy!”

“No.” Lotor deadpanned immediately, and in time with Acxa.

“Oh, come on!” Ezor resumed pouting at him. “It’s a perfect name for a Corel-class. They hop between star systems and they’re even sorta shaped like skipping stones.” she mimed throwing something with a flick of her wrist, and Acxa turned to frown at her.

“What’s a skipping stone?”

“It’s undignified.” Lotor crossed his arms as Ezor gaped at Acxa. “Acxa, have you any ideas?”

“It should be something classical.” she said as she turned back to him, ignoring Ezor’s wide-eyed stare. “ISS Reliant, perhaps.”

“We’re not an Imperial ship, though.” Lotor frowned slightly, looking across the room at where Ezor had enthusiastically taken a few buckets of paint to the wall to cover up the Imperial symbol with a crude, less than flattering depiction of the late Sub-Commander. Ezor followed his gaze, and sniggered meanly.

“True.” Acxa agreed, looking back to her game. “But ‘The Reliant’ is still a solid name. Unless you have a better one in mind?”

Lotor looked around the room, taking in the pile of supplies and equipment, the hatch to the maintenance crawlway that didn’t close quite right, the emergency rebreathers under the technical station. “Neru.” he said after a few ticks. “I’d call it the Neru.”

“Well, shit.” Ezor pushed herself up on her elbows. “I can’t deny, that sounds a lot better than either of ours.”

“Agreed.” Acxa nodded. “The Neru has a certain... gravitas to it, I suppose.”

“Big word for an omega who doesn’t know what skipping stones is.” Ezor teased, reaching over to tug at Acxa’s shaggy hair.

“We didn’t all grow up on a planet with breathable atmosphere.” Acxa rolled her eyes, swatting away Ezor’s hand and moving one of her pieces on the board. Lotor picked his datapad back up to hide his smile behind it. The way they acted, it was as if they’d known each other their whole lives rather than having met just phoebs ago. Evidently they’d chosen well, in asking her to come aboard.

\---

Acxa hissed in pain, both hands pressed tight to her side as Lotor dragged her up the Neru’s boarding ramp. His own arm felt like it was on fire, but that was inconsequential. He balanced precariously on one foot, lashing out with the other heel to kick the button that’d close the door behind them.

“Ezor.” Acxa mumbled, and Lotor gritted his teeth.

“You first.” he insisted, hauling her down the curved halway and into the common area. Laying her out on the curved couch, he grabbed one of her hands firmly in both his own. “I’ll be right back.” he promised, and Acxa let out a weak groan as he stepped away. Hurrying around the gaming table and past the slightly haphazard dstorage area, he rushed past the forward viewport towards the bathroom. The first aid kit beneath the sink had been rudimentary at first, but after the second time Ezor got in a scrap Acxa had put some effort into expanding it. He’d mocked her at the time, gently of course, but now he couldn’t find it in him to even consider ridiculing her vigilance.

“Where’s Ezor?” Acxa asked as he let the kit thud down on the table, scattering the cards they’d left lying there when the proximity alert sounded for the Tresni Belt.

“Later.” he said sharply, and moved to push Acxa’s shoulders back down to the cushions. “Lie still, you’ll only make it worse.”

“You left her.” she glared at him, more coherent than she’d been in several doboshes, and he forcibly pressed her hands to the bleeding wound in her side.

“To save your life.” he turned, opening to kit to retrieve gauze and a pair of sterile scissors. Or at least, they were supposed to be sterile, he wasn’t sure how well they’d been cleaned after their last use but honestly that was a bit beside the point when one of his clade was slowly bleeding out. “This will hurt.” he warned, grabbing a pouch of antiseptic gel and moving her hands aside to take the scissors to her bodysuit. Funny, how quickly you picked up medical skills when your clade was routinely in danger.

Acxa hissed through clenched teeth as he ripped open the gel packet and emptied it onto her wound. “We’re going back for her.” he promised as he smeared the gel into her wound with a wad of gauze. “Soon as we can, we’re going back to free her.”

“You’re going back, you mean.” Acxa grunted as he pressed a larger wad of gauze to her injury, moving her hand to hold it in place as he grabbed the bandages.

“You’re not dying on me.” he snapped, a touch of alpha rumble sllipping into his voice. “I won’t allow it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Acxa chuckled, then winced as the motion aggravated her wound. “But I’m not rescuing anyone like this.” she gestured vaguely at her side as Lotor wound the bandages around her middle.

“Then we wait.”

“And our suppressants?”

Lotor opened his mouth, but shut it silently after a tick. Neither of them had been off suppressants in their lives, and the Neru was in no way equipped to accommodate two deca-poebs delayed first cycles at once. And that was assuming neither of them caved and turned to the other. They were only clade after all, not pack, and that was all that’d matter once their cycles took hold. “Fine.” he tied off the bandage and cut the end free of the roll. “I’ll rescue her myself, soon as we know where she’s been taken.”

“Good.” Acxa smiled, just slightly, and as her eyes fluttered shut Lotor made to lift her into the bunk behind the couch. He was forced to stop before he could even begin to lift her, though, and hissed in pain as he was sharpy reminded of his own injury. Now that Acxa was safe, now that the fear of losing her had been eased, the pain was returning with a vengeance. He looked down at the wound, already scabbing over purple inside the scorched edges of the hole in his bodysuit, and after a moment grabbed a handful of gauze to press to it. A layer of bandages, a layer of emergency repair tape, and he was spaceworthy again.

He popped two pain pills in his mouth, swallowed them dry, and shut the lid of the first aid kit. Ezor had been taken by Imperial forces, and with the ship they’d been in there was only one place they could be taking her. The sole planet in this mined-out asteroid belt, where the nearest Imperial base was. Tresni itself.

If he was quick, and careful, and rather very lucky, he could have Ezor back aboard before Acxa awoke. If he was less lucky, however, Acxa would be left alone, and that of course was unacceptable.

He would just have to make sure the odds fell in his favour, no matter how this played out. Failure was not an option.


	8. Chapter 8

Lotor settled the helmet over his head, grimacing at the smell left by the one who’d been wearing it just a few doboshes ago, and held himself tall as he walked back out into the corridor. It felt... strange, unnatural almost, to be weighted down and restricted by his protective equipment. Was this really what the rank and file had to contend with? No wonder they were so rarely promoted to officers, it’d be near impossible to perform an officer’s tasks properly in this gear.

He checked the signs, and turned left towards the cells. The only ones on this base seemed to be meant for gladiators, and the lack of live soldiers he’d met had him very nearly certain a match was on right now. He could only hope that Ezor was not involved; getting her out of the cells would be tricky enough, but rescuing her from the arena would be nearly impossible. Not completely, but close enough that he’d much rather have someone to watch his back.

“You there.” Lotor straightened at the voice from behind him, turning to see a soldier whose armour bore a higher mark of rank than the one on the set he’d donned.

“Sir?”

“What are you doing down here?”

“Checking the cells, Sir.” he stood at attention. “News is one of the new prisoners down is vicious and resourceful, so we’ve been ordered to check on her regularly.”

“Is that so.” the officer’s mouth pulled down in a scowl. “Which cell?”

“I- was not told.” he hedged.

“Well the new arrival’s waiting to be tossed in the arena right now.” the officer crossed his arms, then gave him a smile with too many teeth for comfort. “C’mon, if we hurry we’ll make its fight.”

Lotor clenched his jaw and nodded his head, falling in step behind the officer. Arenas were too well-guarded to break into on such short notice, and if he was caught here then Acxa would be left all alone, and every atom of his body rejected that possibility. He had to trust Ezor to survive, had to trust that she would know rescue was coming and keep ready to escape. He didn’t like having to trust in unknown variables.

The officer gave him a shove towards the seating for enlisted soldiers once they reached the stands, and he sat himself on the empty end of a bench with a moderately good view for the distance he was at. Even if he’d been in the back row, though, there was no mistaking the figure in the ring right now. Her brightly coloured skin was like a beacon against the pale substrate and dull purple pillars, making it easy to follow her motions as she leapt and flipped around a chulper easily four times her size.

He swallowed an instinctive noise of worry, tamping down the urge to rush to help her. Ezor was a perfectly capable warrior, he never would’ve let Acxa talk him into inviting her aboard if she couldn’t hold her own in a fight, and he was much too far away to interfere regardless. Not to mention the fact that interfering with someone else’s fight was just plain rude.

Ezor lashed out with the unwieldy sword they gave to fresh gladiators and Lotor winced at the way it glanced off the chulper’s thick fur, leaving little more than a scratch. The beast lashed out in return with a roar of fury, but Ezor leapt clear over its back, her blade nicking its shoulder as she passed. Lotor leaned forward slightly as she hit the ground in a tumble, spinning back up to her feet with the ‘sword’ lagging behind. She’d eschewed weapons when Lotor offered to help her find one that worked, instead choosing to keep her claws filed to a lethal sharpness and honing her body into a weapon as fine as a General deserved. To see her struggling now with the weapon of a slave made Lotor’s blood boil.

She shifted sideways, stepping carefully, and he knew that if he could see her face she’d be grinning like mad. Ezor loved a challenge, after all, and there was nothing like facing down a beast several times your size with an unfamiliar weapon to really get the blood going. Even if it was horribly bad for his own heart, not knowing whether or not someone he’d accepted as clade was going to be alive in a few doboshes.

The chulper turned to face Ezor, and she slid one foot to turn her body sideways to it, lifting the gladiator’s weapon out to point at its nose, her posture only slightly off from textbook perfect. The chulper took one lumbering step towards her and faltered, and in that moment she moved like lightning, slashing across its nose to make it rear back and bare its throat.

The soldiers around him went wild as the beast keeled over dead, and Lotor allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief as he sat back. Unfavourable weapon or no, he didn’t have to worry about Ezor dying in the arena. She was a cut above rabble-rousers and rejects who made up the majority of her opponents, and he had faith that she’d be able to win even against an opponent of her own level. She was his clade, after all, and he only accepted the best.

He let the flow of bodies carry him out of the arena, keeping an ear open as he formulated a loose plan. They didn’t know he was here, which was both a blessing and a curse. If they knew Zarkon’s heir was among them, he’d be able to free Ezor in a heartbeat. But then the two of them would have to sabotage this base beyond repair before leaving, lest word get back to his father that he’d survived the destruction of the Iostar base. As it stood, all he had to do was break Ezor out and possibly steal a fighter to get them both back to the Neru.

He slipped away from the crowd, and made for the cells again. Without clearance or time, he had no way of knowing which cell Ezor was in. A manual search would take too long, and the chances of being caught increased exponentially if he factored in the time it’d take to hack her door lock at the panel. The door he palmed open wasn’t labelled, but nor was it locked, because who bothered to lock up a supply closet that just _happened_ to have the fuse box for this block mounted on the wall inside it?

The box itself was locked shut, but the metal was weak and rent easily under his claws to reveal three long rows of switches. Unlabelled switches, of course, because why bother to make labels when any engineer would have a datapad to tell them which was which? Lotor frowned, mulling over the options in his head. Once he did this he’d have a finite amount of time before someone came to check why this part of the base had gone dark, but until then he’d be able to move freely without fear of surveillance.

He pressed his forearm to the fuse box, but it didn’t cover them all. If this looked like sabotage the halls would be full of sentries in ticks, everything had to go out at once. But of course, before he did any of that, he had to wait long enough for Ezor to be thrown back in her cell. If she was still in transit when the lights went off, he’d have to deal with getting her cuffs off. He lifted his other hand to the main switch at the top, slowly counted out three doboshes, and threw it. The lights went out immediately, and he blindly flipped as many of the other switches as he could before pulling the door open and stepping out into the dim red emergency lights of the corridor. The cells should be nearby, he could already hear shouting from guards and prisoners alike as the more vicious gladiators were set free. With any luck they’d avoid Ezor, covered as she still probably was in chulper blood. Stars above, he could hardly believe he was actually _hoping_ one of his clade was covered in blood. 

He skidded to a stop as a sentry was brutally thrown past him, leaving an indent in the wall when it fell in a useless sparking heap to the floor, and turned to see a prisoner who was unmistakably half kythrian. She snarled at the fallen sentry, and when she turned on him Lotor quickly raised his hands. “I’m the one who shut off the power.” he blurted, pulling the helmet off to reveal his face. “I’m looking for my friend, she was brought in not long ago.”

The prisoner looked him up and down, ears twitching slightly. “Li’l rainbow thing, fights like a wild animal?”

“That’s her, yes. Have you seen her?”

“This way.” she jerked her head back at the hall she’d been coming from, and Lotor unholstered the standard-issue rifle from its spot across his back. More sentries would be coming soon, and while he wouldn’t question someone helping him find Ezor he wasn’t going to count on her to protect them on their way out.

The walls and floors in the cell block were splattered with blood and oil and half-spent quintessence, and Lotor grimaced as he caught sight of a whole arm still in its armour lying on the ground. The other prisoners seemed to have cleared out though, likely headed for the nearest hangar; a path they’d have to take as well if access to the ship he’d arrived in was cut off. “She’s in here.” the stranger gestured to a cell with a significant amount of splatter at the entrance, and Lotor gave her a wary look before stepping inside.

“Ezor?” he asked softly, lowering his rifle. His eyes skated over a spare jumpsuit and tunic up against one wall, then he paused and looked back at the clothing. The sitting-up clothing, which was clearly hanging on a body that roughly fit Ezor’s proportions. “Ezor, come on.” he held out a hand to her, and she faded back into view with a stunned expression.

“You’re here.” she said dumbly, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yes, obviously, now come _on_ , we haven’t much time before they get the power on again.” he curled his fingers slightly, beckoning, and she pushed herself to her feet with precisely none of her usual grace. She clasped his forearm, and he pulled her in to briefly press their foreheads together before turning to the doorway.

“Friend?” the half-kythrian gladiator asked skeptically as they exited, and Lotor made a rude hand gesture at her.

“Clade.” Ezor corrected her, and held out her free arm. “We could use a hand getting out of here, if you’re up for it.”

“Ezor!” Lotor hissed, and turned to find hard blue eyes staring at him, Ezor’s jaw set stubborn. “We’ll talk about this later.” he muttered, and she flashed him a smile. “Hurry, I parked over this way.” he released Ezor’s forearm to gesture, and primed his rifle as they started down the corridor. Any tick now there would be sentries, officers, and he would let neither take his clade form him again.


	9. Chapter 9

“Who’s this?” Acxa asked sharply when they boarded the Neru, and even though she was glaring Lotor’s heart soared to see her upright already. Sure, she was leaning on the wall pretty heavily, but her face wasn’t bloodless anymore and she was standing under her own power, a sure sign that she’d started properly healing.

“This is Zethrid.” Ezor announced happily, gripping one of Zethrid’s arms with both hands. “She was in the cell across from me.”

“Hi.” Zethrid lifted a hand to give Acxa a little wave.

“Lotor.” Acxa narrowed his eyes at him, and he raised his hands helplessly.

“She led me to Ezor and helped us get out of there in one piece.” he explained. “The least we can do is give her a lift to the next system over.”

Acxa looked Zethrid up and down suspiciously, her face only softening when she looked to Ezor. “Any of that yours?” she inclined her head at the mess of blood and fluids on Ezor’s bodysuit, and Ezor shook her head.

“Mostly chulper.” she said, still smiling. Lotor wondered if her cheeks hurt, smiling as much as she had been since they got out of the base.

“You kill it?” Acxa asked, pushing herself more upright, and Lotor stepped forward to support her before she could wobble. There was no way she’d already recovered completely from losing that much blood, and he’d hate for her to lose face in front of their new passenger.

“Death of a thousand cuts style.” Ezor bobbed her head, and Lotor caught a small, fond smile on Ezor’s face.

“They showed it in the gladiator’s common area, it was impressive.”

“It was meant to be.” Ezor preened, leaning into Zethrid’s side.

“Well.” Lotor said firmly, drawing the attention of all three omegas. “Zethrid, you’ll be sleeping on the bed behind the couch. Ezor can give you a tour while Acxa and I get us moving.”

Ezor lit up at the pseudo-order, and as she dragged Zethrid past Lotor pointedly ignored the Look Acxa was pointing at him.

“We’re not leaving her at the next system, are we?” she asked once Lotor helped her into the co-pilot’s seat.

“You saw the way she and Ezor looked at each other.” he sighed, punching the buttons for his half of the engine ignition sequence.

“And what, are you going to let them have your room and bunk with me?”

“Not in this lifetime.” he scoffed. “We’d never get any sleep.”

Acxa was silent for a dobosh as they got the Neru out of the asteroid cave she’d been hidden in, and once they got the autopilot and proximity sensors active she sat back in her seat with a soft groan. “What do we do if she breaks Ezor’s heart?” she asked, and Lotor cast his eyes towards the distant stars.

“I’ll cut her tendons and you keep a gun on her while Ezor works out her anger.” he shrugged. “After that, Ezor’s call.”

“Sounds fair.” Acxa nodded, and Lotor couldn’t help but grin. It was a brief thing, though, as a recent memory asserted itself.

“She didn’t think we would be coming for her.” he said softly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Acxa turn towards him with an expression of mute shock. “She was so sure we’d left her behind, she didn’t even run with the rest of the prisoners.”

“The rest?”

“I had to power down the whole cell block, they provided an adequate diversion.” he shifted in his seat and looked over at her again. “Not the point, though.”

“Well, she knows now.” Acxa leaned over to put a hand on his knee, her expression solemn. “And we’ll make sure she never forgets that we don’t leave our clade behind.”

“Never.” Lotor agreed, placing one hand over hers and touching the pocket that held his datachip with the other.

“We do still have to get suppressants, though.”

“We do.” Lotor sighed, and turned his attention back to the ship’s navigation system. “Think we can make the next system before our cycles hit?”

“Only if we punch it.” Acxa grinned, and Lotor placed his hand on his half of the slipstream accelerator lever.

“Then we punch it.” he grinned as Acxa grabbed her half, and the stars outside began to blur as they pushed the control forward together.

\---

“We need a new ship.” Lotor admitted, sitting down on the end of the couch with his dinner.

“Yeaaah.” Ezor agreed, Acxa and Zethrid nodding along.

“So, first things first.” he reached forward and set a datapad in the middle of the table. “What do we need?”

“More bedrooms.” Zethrid said immediately.

“That’s a want.” Lotor rolled his eyes.

“It’s a need.” Acxa said drily, giving Ezor and Zethrid a hard look.

“Point taken.” Lotor stuffed a sporkful of dinner in his mouth and reached out to add bedrooms to the list.

“Better engines, maybe?” Ezor supplied. “Or a bigger hold, if we’re going to keep hauling things around.”

“Yeah, why do we do that anyway?” Zethrid asked, resting an elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. “You’re the prince, aren’t you?”

“Prince in exile.” Lotor pointed his spork at her. “I’ve not had contact with my father in five deca-phoebs.”

“I’m not entirely sure he knows you’re alive anymore, honestly.” Acxa interjected.

“Oh yeah, you did get us to kill everyone in that base before they could tell anyone.” Ezor mused, tapping her spork on her chin. The utensil left a smear of sauce, and Lotor rolled his eyes as Zethrid reached over to wipe it away with her thumb.

“I hadn’t spoken to him in deca-phoebs even before we left Iostar.” he waved his hand dismissively, scooping up another sporkful of dinner. “Slipstream capable engines are definitely a must, and a larger hold is a good idea, especially as we start taking control of more systems and need to make longer journeys between them.” he added engines and hold to the list.

“Better systems would be good.” Acxa suggested. “The navigation on this one is outdated.”

“Computers.” Lotor acknowledged, adding that to the list as well. “So we’ve got bedrooms, engines, hold, and computer systems that _need_ an upgrade from what Neru’s got. What do we _want_?”

“Better shower.” Zethrid supplied.

“Could do with a better bathroom in general.” Lotor agreed. “And more, if we can afford it.”

“Seconded.” Acxa and Ezor chimed in.

“Maybe a separate one just for Lotor, so the rest of us aren’t waiting for him to dry his hair every morning.” Ezor teased. He kicked her under the table, but added that to the list anyways.

“I think just having a bigger ship in general would be nice.” Acxa mused. “Neru’s lovely, but-”

“Cramped.” Ezor said frankly. “She’s not meant to be lived in by a crew of four.”

“Idunno, I think it’s fine.” Zethrid shrugged. “Would be better if-”

“I’m not giving you and Ezor my room.” he interjected.

“Oh come ooon.” Ezor whined, pouting at him. “It’s not like I haven’t-”

“TMI alert!” Acxa slammed her hands down on the table. “I vote we get something that’s not a retired military ship this time.”

“Agreed.” Ezor nodded, and Lotor’s eyes flicked to the painting on the wall. It had been funny for the first few movements but at this point it was just something of an eyesore.

“Also agreed.” he reached out and added more space and non-military to the list.

“Entertainment, maybe?” Ezor mused. “Not that watching Zethrid get her ass kicked by the computer isn’t fun, but some variety would be nice.”

Zethrid elbowed Ezor hard enough to knock her into Acxa, drawing a laugh out of their clade’s youngest. “I’m not that bad.”

“You rather are.” Lotor smirked, then smirked wider as Zethrid made a rude hand gesture at him.

“Ooh, ooh, we should find one with an actual dining room.” Ezor suggested, sitting back upright and pulling her plate in front of her. “Or like, at least a table in the kitchen.”

“A bigger kitchen would be nice.” Zethrid added. “Something we could actually cook in.”

“Maybe a bigger cockpit, too.” Acxa chimed in as Lotor added the previous few ideas to the list.

“Zethrid, you say that as if any of us can actually cook.” he pointed out, picking his spork back up.

“I can cook!” Zethrid huffed, crossing her arms. “This kitchen’s just not equipped for it.”

“Anyone can cook if they can follow instructions.” Ezor pointed out, and Acxa grinned.

“I’ve seen Lotor burn water.”

“One time!” he protested. “And it was Trynor’s fault anyways.”

Zethrid laughed, Acxa and Ezor quickly joining in, and he shoved his spork in his mouth with a huff. Whatever, once he took his father’s throne it wouldn’t matter if he could cook or not. And right now, with his clade happy around him, he couldn’t bring himself to be upset about their teasing for long. Until he’d amassed enough power to reunite his pack, they were all he had. A ship meeting their expectations would be costly, of that he had no doubt, but they’d make it work.

He’d make it work, if only to ensure his clade stayed close and happy.


	10. Chapter 10

“Lotor?” Acxa’s hand on his shoulder pulled him back to the present, and Lotor shook his head slightly.

“Sorry, were you saying something?”

“No, you just looked...” she paused, chewing on her lower lip for a tick. “Distant.”

“Nothing to worry about, I assure you.” he patted her on the shoulder, then reached up to give his faithful cheoc a scratch under the chin. “Kova here would alert us if anything was amiss.”

“You never did explain how he does that.” Acxa mused, and Lotor shrugged his free shoulder.

“I doubt anyone other than a druid could. He’s been with me my whole life, haven’t you?” he moved to scratch just behind Kova’s jaw, and the cheoc opened his mouth in a yawn.

“We should get him something, after we find our new ship. One of those little climbing tower things, perhaps.”

“Perhaps.” he agreed, looking forward again at Ezor darting from storefront to storefront, cooing over the clothing and jewellery and trinkets on display while Zethrid trailed after her with a small, fond smile. “How far to the next shipyard?” he asked, and then the world seemed to jump and he was blinking back to awareness in Zethrid’s arms, Acxa’s hands on his face.

“Are you alright?” she asked, and he tentatively nodded as Zethrid let him get back to his feet.

“What happened?” he looked between the members of his clade, heart speeding up as he noticed one was missing. “Where’s Ezor?”

“We’re not sure.” Acxa said, and behind him Zethrid snorted.

“Kova took off when you fainter, so Ezor went after your cheoc. She should be back soon.” Zethrid clapped a hand firmly on his shoulder. “You feeling ok?”

“Yes.” he brushed her hand off. “Which way did they go?”

“That way, but-”

Lotor started in the direction Acxa pointed before she could finish, dragging her along when she tried to stop him by grabbing his wrist. “Lotor, wait!” she dug in her heels, and he twisted his arm to make her let go before turning to face her.

“For what, whoever knocked me out to get Ezor and Kova too?” he asked rhetorically.

“Lotor, nobody attacked you.” Acxa frowned at him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, turning and walking again, trusting his clade to catch up. “We’re not far from the Eglani system, and the tegla there can render people unconscious with just a touch.”

“Why would they do that in the middle of a crowd though?” Zethrid asked, and Lotor paused.

“Good question.” he acknowledged.

“The only thing I can think of is that they wanted a distraction, but nothing else happened while you were out.” Acxa muttered behind him, and Lotor patted the pocket on his belt that was supposed to hold a bank card and small sum of GAC bills. He felt neither.

“They stole our money.” he said disbelievingly, and Acxa made a sound of outrage.

“That was meant to pay for our new ship!”

“Good thing, then, that Ezor followed Kova.” he picked up his pace again, Acxa and Zethrid falling in single file behind him. “He’ll have followed my assailant, so as long as we can find them-”

“Or we find you.” Ezor interrupted him as she strode up with a grin, dragging a half-tegla with a ratty hooded jacket obscuring her eyes. “Kova was a very good tracker, lead me straight to her.”

“He’s a very good cheoc in general.” Lotor agreed, holding out an arm for Kova to jump onto. His cheoc, however, did not take the invitation, which was unusual but not unheard of. “More importantly, though, did you retrieve our money?”

“And then some.” Ezor nodded, pulling a wad of bills from a pocket on the front of the thief’s threadbare jacket and holding them up for viewing.

“Leave her any coins or trinkets you may find.” he instructed, and Ezor nodded. “Zethrid, you restrain her, be careful not to touch her skin. Acxa, gun out please, I’d like to ask her a few questions.”

“Yes, Sir.” Acxa said crisply, unholstering her small blaster and levelling it at the stranger’s head. Times like this, Lotor was _immensely_ glad she’d been raised on a military base. He stepped forward and looked the stranger up and down, taking in her stained clothes and the holes in her shoes where her clawed toes had punctured the fabric He’d be willing to bet the Neru itself that those had been in awful condition even before she got them, though.

If he and Acxa hadn’t been so lucky, if their ship had broken down on a fringe world, that would’ve been them. Not for long, of course, with his brains and their combined strengths he didn’t doubt they would’ve wound up ruling the planet within a few phoebs, but this halfie didn’t have his schooling or Acxa’s training. “I’ll not report this to the authorities.” he said at length, and the stranger’s head lifted slightly, giving Lotor a glimpse of her eyeless upper face. “In return, you stay away from my clade.”

She nodded quickly, and Lotor gestured for Zethrid to release her. “Come, no harm no foul.” he turned to start back towards the shipyard, but a loud sound from Kova made him pause.

“C’mon, cheo-cheo-cheo~” Ezor sing-songed at his lifelong companion. “Up you get.”

Lotor turned just in time to see Kova hiss at Ezor, something he’d never done even when he first met her, and- okay, that was a sign from the stars if he’d ever seen one. The stranger turned her head to look at Kova on her shoulder, slowly lifting a hand to gently stroke the back of his head. “Well, that’s new.” Acxa remarked, and Lotor shook his head with a dry chuckle.

“No, it’s not.” he stepped towards the stranger again. “He took to Ezor and Zethrid just as quickly.”

“Lotor, you can’t possibly be thinking-”

“What is your name?” he cut Acxa off, addressing the local halfie. She lifted her hands, and it took him a tick to realize that she was spelling her name in sign language. His own was fairly rusty, but he did still know the letter signs. “Narti?” he asked, and she nodded. “Tell me, Narti.” he lifted a hand to his chin, looking her up and down. “How did you incapacitate me, back on the street?”

She reached out, and though he jerked backwards it wasn’t fast enough. Her fingers brushed his face, and he froze as a voice not his own drifted through his mind. _«It is my gift.»_

He lifted a hand to stall Acxa and Zethrid, keeping his eyes locked on Narti. “Your gift, how does it work?”

 _«When I touch others, I can feel their mind.»_ her voice was impossible to place, seeming to come from everywhere around him and yet nowhere at all.

“And this makes them go to sleep?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“But you made Lotor pass out earlier.” Ezor frowned, coming closer.

 _«I told him to, yes.»_ she nodded.

“Told me to?” Lotor frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

 _«You wouldn’t.»_ she tilted her head slightly, the edge of her mouth tugging up in a grin. _«I told you not to.»_

“So once you’ve felt someone’s brain, what, you tell them to do something and they comply?”

“Mind control.” Acxa didn’t raise her gun, but she did readjust her grip on it as Narti nodded.

_«Only while I am touching them, though.»_

“She can’t control you without touching.” he relayed to his clade.

 _«I can feel your minds, this close.»_ she murmured inside his head. _«All five of you so loyal, so devoted.»_ she sounded wistful almost, and he didn’t blame her. To be without pack or clade was a terrible thing.

“Wait, five?” he glanced at the members of his clade, then at the alley around them, bare of any other strangers.

 _«Yes.»_ she paused, head tilting slightly. _«He is a symbiote.»_

“He?” Lotor’s brow furrowed for a tick, then his eyebrows shot up. “You can sense Kova?”

“Wait, wait, the freaky mind reader gal is talking to your cheoc?” Zethrid leaned forwards slightly, and Narti nodded.

“She says, she admires your bravery.” Lotor relayed as Narti fed the thought into his brain. It was still a strange sensation, but he was definitely growing used to it. “Acxa, Ezor, she commends your loyalty.”

“Oh.” Acxa blinked. “Thank you?”

Narti’s shoulders shook slightly in silent but obvious laughter, and Lotor couldn’t help but smile as Kova pawed politely at her shin. Linked as they were he could sense her mind, and feel that she was being truthful. “I have a proposition for you.” he said, tilting his head slightly.

She mirrored the motion, and he could feel her prodding gently at his mind, reading his unvoiced thought. “How would you like to help us afford a new ship?” he asked, more for his clade’s benefit than Narti’s.

 _«That is not why you want me on your crew.»_ Narti’s facial expression didn’t change, but Lotor got the distinct feeling she was somehow staring into his soul. _«You want me as a weapon.»_

 _«An asset.»_ he corrected her, thinking about how much more she could use her gift for. Petty theft was a waste of a talent like hers, really. “I’ll not make this offer again.” he said softly, glancing at his clade. Zethrid and Acxa still looked distrustful, but Ezor was giving Narti a considering look.

 _«What do you offer me, if I should aid you?»_ she asked, and Lotor shut his eyes. He tried to pull up a mental image of the money they could afford to pay her, of the mutual benefit they could provide each other should his clade disagree with her joining long-term, but the image wouldn’t stay. It kept slipping, Narti pushing at his mind until another image resolved itself.

The Neru’s common area, his clade seated on the curved couch around the game table. It was a memory from this morning, Acxa beating Zethrid again while Ezor teased both of them. In his mind’s eye he could see Narti sitting between Ezor and Acxa, Kova perched on her shoulder. She prodded at his mind again, and Lotor gasped as his eyes snapped open, one hand flying up to grip Narti’s wrist tight as a much older photograph flickered to the front of his mind.

“That’s private.” he hissed, claws extending even as Narti raised her other hand.

 _«It’s what I needed to know.»_ Narti smiled, and on her face it looked kind but Lotor could feel the near desperation behind it. _«You are a schemer, Lotor. A backstabber. Any means necessary to advance your goals, short of alienating your clade.»_ Her shoulders shook slightly, a demure giggle echoing eerily in his head. _«You have secrets upon secrets, plans upon plans. They are loyal to you, Lotor, but would they be if they **knew**?»_

A chill ran down his spine, and Narti’s smile widened. _«Now, if you double cross me, they will know.»_

“You say that as if I would have double crossed you in the first place.” Lotor frowned at her, and Narti shrugged.

 _«Better safe than sorry. Anyways, I accept your offer.»_ she removed her hand from his head, and Lotor staggered back a step. Acxa was at his side in half a tick, one hand a steadying presence on his elbow and the other pointing her gun at Narti.

“Don’t.” he pulled her gun arm down, and she frowned at him.

“She went digging in your mind without your permission, why _shouldn’t_ I shoot her?”

“Because.” Lotor straightened up, brushing some loose hair behind his ear. “She’s going to help us buy a ship for cheap, and then we’ll give her a lift off this rock.”

Kova pawed at Narti’s shin again, meowing up at her the way he did when he wanted attention, and without prompting Narti crouched to pick him up. Acxa watched her with a wary eye for a few ticks as she scratched Kova behind the ear, then sighed and lowered her gun. “Fine, but one wrong move and I’m kneecapping her.”

“Idunno.” Zethrid shifted her weight to one leg, cocking her head slightly to the side as a grin spread across her face. “Having a gal with her powers around could come in handy.”

“Precisely.” Lotor nodded.

“Plus, Kova likes her.” Ezor beamed, practically bouncing over to sling an arm around Narti’s shoulders, making her stagger slightly. “So she can’t be that bad.”

“I hate how much sense you two make sometimes.” Acxa sighed, holstering her gun.

“Come, the shipyard is this way.” Lotor gestured for them to follow him, and Narti nodded with the rest as they fell in behind him, Kova clambering up to sit primly on her shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

“It’s so big!” Ezor laughed, running a few paces ahead and spinning with her arms out. Even though they were in the hallway, her fingers didn’t touch the walls. It was nowhere near the size of the main corridors in a space station, of course, but still a damn sight better than Neru.

“Let’s get her back to the Neru and move our things.” Lotor said, gesturing for Acxa to follow him as he turned towards the cockpit.

“Question.” Zethrid trailed after the two of them, her footsteps heavy on the gleaming matte metal floor. “Can either of you actually fly this thing?”

“Of course.” Lotor scoffed, tapping the operation panel to open the door. “Acxa and I- can...” he trailed off, staring at the cockpit. The much larger than anticipated cockpit. There were four stations, and Acxa moved quickly to look them over as Lotor looked around the room. “Perhaps we should have asked for a closer look at the controls before before making our decision.”

“Only two of these are essential.” Acxa announced, looking over her shoulder at him. “The others are comms, shields, and weaponry.”

“Two?”

“Navigation, helm.” Acxa pointed at the conjoined stations in the middle of the room, and Lotor walked over to the helm station on the left hand side of the big desk thing. The controls were far more complex than Neru’s, but almost entirely on screens, with only a few levers and dials for things you wouldn’t want to hit by accident.

“Should I get Ezor?” Zethrid asked, and Lotor shook his head.

“There will be time to acquaint ourselves with the new controls later. Now, we should get our things and get off this planet before that sales associate comes to.”

“Agreed.” Acxa sat down at the navigation seat and started tapping at her screens. Lotor did the same with the helm controls, warming up the vertical liftoff engines and checking fuel levels. Not enough to leave the system, but enough to make it to the next planet in either direction.

“I’ll make sure Ezor and Narti are in position to get out and grab our bags.” Zethrid said, and Lotor gave her a thumbs up as she turned and walked out of the cockpit. Or, he supposed it was a bridge now, with a proper viewscreen and everything. He hadn’t anticipated having one of these until he reclaimed his place in the Empire. It was rather a nice little luxury.

“Engaging thrusters.” he warned Acxa, and slid the power bar on screen up with two fingers. On the wide, curving screen in front of him the horizon began to sink, golden sky and puffy pink-purple clouds filling it instead.

“Track three quarter rads to the right.” Acxa told him, and he blinked at the controls for a tick before locating the proper thrusters on the ship icon taking up most of his main screen. He selected them, turning them on low, and watched the sky lazily slide past their viewscreen. “Correct left.” Acxa said flatly, and Lotor winced. Right; new ship, new engines to get used to.

“Correcting.” he shut off the active engines and brought up the opposing ones, this time firing them in short bursts.

“Stop.” Axa said, and he tilted his hand back from tapping the screen again. “Destination is dead ahead. Take it slow.”

“Who’s the one in charge here?” he teased, selecting the rear engine group and putting them at low power, angling the ship up slightly to avoid the tall buildings between them and the Neru.

“Well, I am the one with a map.” Acxa grinned cheekily at him, a quick little flash of teeth.

“Is there a database, or is it some kind of imaging system?” Lotor asked, keeping his eyes largely on the viewscreen.

“Imaging system.” Acxa answered promptly. “Sonar of some kind, I’ve not seen its like before.”

“We really should’ve asked that salesperson more questions before siccing Narti on him.” Lotor said after a few ticks of silence.

“Agreed.” Acxa nodded. “Start angling down, we should be able to see the Neru from here.”

“Acknowledged.” Lotor replied automatically, tilting the nose down until he could see the city stretched across the horizon again. The controls were wonderfully intuitive, far better than any Corel class or standard fighter, though that may have been simply because he was already used to flying large ships. “Is there a PA on this thing?” he glanced over his station with a frown.

“Not here.” Acxa reported. “It’s probably part of comms.”

Well, he supposed that made sense. Made it a bit useless at the moment, though. “Well, they’ll feel it when we land.” he pulled the nose of the ship up again, levelling out as he cut the forward engines, leaving them on solely vertical ones.

Acxa guided him to an empty pad near the Neru, and as they lowered towards the ground Lotor realised he’d completely forgotten to pull up the landing gear while in flight. That was definitely something to double check when they left. But, as he powered down the engines and stood from his seat, he didn’t dwell on it. “Well, then.” he grinned and held an arm out to Acxa. “Shall we go retrieve our belongings?”

“Let’s.” Acxa flashed him another smile, looping her arm through his as they walked back to the ship’s main ramp.

\---

“Little rough on the landing.” Zethrid huffed as they exited the Neru, bags shouldered and arms full of boxes.

“I thought it was fine.” Acxa frowned at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, you were sitting down. And knew it was coming. Doesn’t a ship this size have a speaker system?”

“It’s wired into the comms station.” Lotor said smoothly before Zethrid could work herself up any further. “A bit pointless in atmosphere for a crew the size of ours, but I’m sure we’ll make use of it in deep space.”

“Comms station?” Ezor cocked her head to the side, Narti mimicking the motion.

“This one has a bridge, rather than a cockpit.” Lotor explained. “Helm, navigation, comms, shields and weapons are all different stations.”

“Oh, so one for each of us!” Ezor grinned. “I call shields.”

“Shields and weapons are one station.” Acxa corrected her, adjusting her grip on the box in her arms.

“Oh.” Ezor pouted. “Well I guess Zethrid can have that, then.”

“Aww.” Zethrid grinned, and Lotor rolled his eyes.

“For the record, if you two fuck _anywhere_ on the bridge you’ll both be cleaning the hull with dish scrubbers.” he warned them. The answering chuckle from Zethrid and cackle from Ezor were far from reassuring.

“Only if you catch us~” Ezor singsonged, and Lotor growled under his breath. Damn heavy box, keeping him from making appropriately rude hand gestures at them. Maybe they should’ve invested in hovering crates after all.

“I will personally castrate _both of you_.” Acxa snarled, and Narti’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“Kinky.” Ezor grinned, waggling her eyebrows. Acxa growled louder and Lotor moved to put himself between them before Acxa actually started a fight.

“Let’s just get our things over to the new ship and get off this planet.” he said coolly, looking between the two omegas.

“That reminds me.” Zethrid chimed in from behind them. “Does this ship have a name?”

Lotor glanced over his shoulder, and saw Narti shaking her head. “We should give it one, then.” Zethrid suggested, a grin growing on her face. “Starcrusher.”

“Pff, as if.” Ezor scoffed. “It should be Stardancer.”

“I’m not calling it either of those.” he said flatly, and looked over to Acxa, who shrugged.

“Reliant?”

“You suggested that for the last one.”

“It’s a good name.”

“Perhaps.” he conceded, turning on his heel and walking backwards to look at Narti. “Narti, have you any suggestions?”

She tilted her head slightly, then shifted the crate in her grasp to one arm and gestured at Kova sitting on her shoulder. Zethrid snorted, and Lotor couldn’t help but crack a grin as Narti placed her hand back on the underside of her crate.

“I think that’d get a bit confusing, naming the ship after Kova.”

“Ooh, I like it though!” Ezor bounced slightly as Lotor turned to face forwards again.

“We could go with Nova.” Acxa suggested. “It keeps Ezor and Zethrid’s star theme and has the same sort of sound as Kova.”

“I like that option.” Zethrid said from behind him. “Narti does too.”

“Did you have any name ideas yourself, Lotor?” Acxa cocked her head slightly, eyes boring into him. He shifted his grip on the crate in his hands, leaning its weight more on his chest.

“Just one.” he looked up as they came into view of the ship, his eyes locking on a blank stretch of hull where the name could be painted.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting.” Ezor teased, stepping sideways to bump her hip against his. “What is it?”

“Madilim.”

“Oooh, that’s got a nice ring to it!” Ezor beamed. On his other side, Acxa nodded.

“An appropriately regal name for your ship.”

“Our ship.” he corrected her reflexively.

“It sounds fancy.” Zethrid remarked, and Lotor shrugged.

“It sounds right.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Acxa agreed.

“All agreed on Madilim, then?” he asked, and got a trio of affirmatives.

“Narti says yes too.” Zethrid added a tick later, and Lotor chuckled.

“We’ll have to remember to buy paint, when we reach the next planet.” he mused, leading them up the ramp into their new ship. “It’s not actually legal to fly an unmarked vessel in Imperial space.”

“Pretty sure it’s not legal for you to _be_ in Imperial space.” Acxa teased, and Lotor rolled his eyes.

“That’s neither here nor there.” he shifted his grip on his crate to wave a hand dismissively. “Father cares little, so long as I don’t go causing trouble for him.”

“Trouble like taking a third of the rim from him?” Ezor asked pointedly, and Lotor chuckled.

“Oh, that’s not his problem until the local Commander decides to make it so.” he set his crate down on the floor with the others from earlier trips, and pulled out his datapad to tick off the latest batch of boxes. “And, that makes everything.” he tucked it back away, and turned to face his clade. “Who’s ready to get off this planet?”

Narti’s hand shot up, and Lotor bit the inside of his cheek to stifle a laugh. The others showed no such restraint, and Zethrid slung an arm around the back of Narti’s shoulders. “I think it’s safe to say we’re ready to learn how to fly this thing.”

“Dibs on comms!” Ezor beamed, and took off towards the bridge. Zethrid and Acxa quickly followed suit, leaving just him and Narti in the entryway full of crates. He shut the hatch, and when he turned around only deca-phoebs of training kept him from startling at the sight of Narti’s eyeless face so near his own. She lifted a hand towards his head, paused just shy of touching, and he gave her a shallow nod of permission.

 _«You chose your clade well, Lotor.»_ she smiled slightly, Kova hopping down off her shoulder. _«I look forward to being a part of it.»_

“As I look forward to having you aboard.” Lotor gave her a small smile. “Now, come. There’s only four workstations, but I’m sure Ezor will be able to show you the comms while we’re en route.”

Narti nodded silently, removing her fingers from his forehead, and Lotor lead the way to the bridge. Narti wouldn’t be able to pilot the ship, obviously, and he wasn’t sure he’d trust her with navigation or the weapons and defenses until he knew how those stations were set up, but it wouldn’t take much to convert a comms station to work more on audio cues than visual ones.


	12. Chapter 12

“So.” Lotor leaned back in his seat, using one heel on the floor to turn away from the viewscreen full of slipstream-blurred stars and towards Narti, perched on the edge of the counter next to the comms station. “Narti.” her head lifted, turning towards him, and he could feel the atmosphere of the room change slightly as the rest of his clade’s attention turned to him as well, though none of them turned from their stations.

“We don’t know much about you at all.” he tilted his head slightly, lips curving down as he realised he couldn’t question her without either summoning her over or leaving the pilot’s seat. That was, less than ideal. He’d have to find some files on GSL, it was required learning for all soldiers anyways in case of comms failure while in space. “So, were you born on that planet?”

Narti shrugged, arms folding around Kova perched on her knees. On the clean, new ship the dust and grime that clung to her stood out like a beacon. “But you were raised there, right?”

Another shrug, and Lotor’s frown returned.

“Have you been to any other planets?” Zethrid asked, and Narti shook her head. 

“Then you were raised there.” Acxa looked up from her station towards Narti, who shrugged.

“You were alone.” Lotor realised, and Narti’s nod confirmed it. She’d not been raised, she’d raised herself. No wonder she was so quick to accept his offer. “For how long?”

Yet another shrug, then Narti held up her hands, a single finger raised on one and all four on the other. “At least fourteen?” he guessed, and Narti nodded. “You don’t look fourteen.” he looked her over, trying to see past the dirt. “I’d wager you’re as old as Ezor, if not older.”

“Not much older, though.” Zethrid added. “twenty, tops.”

“Agreed.” Acxa nodded.

“Can we say she’s a phoeb younger than me?” Ezor asked, and Lotor sighed.

“No, Ezor. Once we leave the slipstream we’ll see if the medical bay on this ship has a telomere reader, then we’ll know your age.”

“And you can pick a birthday!” Ezor added, practically sparkling. Lotor chuckled, and turned back to his station. Further questions could wait until they were learning GSL. It wasn’t like they were especially pressing, anyways.

“Y’know, I don’t think we actually know Zethrid’s age either.” Acxa leaned back from her station to look over at the largest of their clade. “You’re older than us, but by how much?”

“Not much.” Zethrid chuckled. “I’m twenty one in a few phoebs.”

“Wow.” Acxa blinked. “I thought you were older.”

“Eh, I get that a lot.” Zethrid lifted an arm and flexed. “Probly to do with these.”

“A little.” Ezor nodded with a dopey smile. Next to her Narti mimed gagging, which earned a chuckle from Acxa.

“Actually, Zethrid?” he raised his voice slightly, making sure she heard him. “Once we’re sure they won’t shoot us out of the sky, I’d like you to take Narti to medical. See if there’s a way to find out her age, or at least get an informed guess.”

“Will do.” she pressed her fist to her chest, and turned back to her station when Lotor returned the salute.

“Oh, and Ezor?” her head swivelled towards him, and Lotor smiled. “Show Narti to the showers, I’m sure she’d like a chance to clean up before we go out to resupply.”

“Will do.” Ezor thumped her chest and popped to her feet, grabbing Narti by the wrist. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up. I can loan you some of my clothes for after.”

The door opened and shut, and the bridge fell back into silence for a dobosh.

“She’ll need clothes.” Acxa pointed out, and Lotor shrugged.

“With the money we saved on this ship, that won’t be a problem.” he pointed out. It would be expensive, certainly, but for the first time in quite a few deca-phoebs money wasn’t an immediate issue. Perhaps he should start asking a small tithe of the planets under his protection, rather than simply having them pay their taxes to the Empire. Not much, just enough to support their fuel and food supply runs.

\---

“Are you _sure_ you read the scan right?” Ezor pestered Zethrid as they walked down the street, like if she asked enough times she’d get the answer she wanted.

“Yes.” Zethrid answered flatly, same as the last dozen times. “Narti’s nearly nineteen, not nearly eighteen.”

“Youngest~” Acxa sing-songed, smirking when Ezor shot her a glare. Lotor rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the fond smile that tugged at the edges of his lips. His hand drifted to the pocket where his old datastick lived, held close to his heart, safe as it could be.

“What _matters_ ,” Lotor said firmly, not turning to face his clade but instead forging forwards through the crowd. “Is that once we’ve finished shoring up our systems, we are all of age to enlist.”

“Wait, what?” Zethrid reached out to grab his shoulder, pulling him around to face her. “What do you mean, enlist?”

“I mean, enlist as officers.” he brushed her hand off his shoulder. “Now that I have territory to my name, I’ll be able to get the four of you in with me.”

“Um, I think you’re forgetting something.” Ezor gestured at herself, her incredibly caronian visage, and Lotor grinned.

“Did you forget how we left your homeworld?” he asked rhetorically. “No species which controls a willing member world of the Empire can be marked as slave caste.”

Ezor blinked, her eyes widening, and Zethrid slung an arm around her shoulders. “Thats sweet and all, but I _was_ sent to the arena as a dishonourable discharge. What’s your plan for dealing with that?”

Lotor flashed her a smirk. “Being the son of the Emperor does have its perks, occasionally.”

“Huh.” Zethrid tilted her head consideringly, and Acxa crossed her arms.

“What about Narti?” she asked pointedly, and Lotor grimaced.

“I’m working on that.”

“And the fact that Zethrid’s the only one of us who’s got any kind of military experience?” she challenged, stepping closer. At least this one he had an answer to.

“The officer track accommodates for applicants without prior experience.” he assured her. “Plus, we three all have experience living on a military base.” he gestured at himself, Acxa, and Ezor.

“That still leaves Narti out.” Acxa glowered at him, and Lotor wondered just when she’d gotten so attached to their latest addition.

“Have I ever lead you wrong?” he turned away,waving a hand dismissively. “I’ve connections, Narti will be one of my subordinates same as the rest of you.”

“Subordinates?” Ezor asked skeptically.

“Well, I am the prince.” he looked over his shoulder at her. “As my clade, you’ll officially be placed a rank below me. It won’t change anything.”

“I mean, we do follow his lead in fights anywa-” Zethrid cut off mid-word and Lotor spun on his heel, hand flying to the hilt of his sword. He relaxed after a tick though, once his eyes landed on Narti’s hand pressed to the back of Zethrid’s. She lifted it after a moment, and Zethrid blinked a few times.

“What’d she say?” Ezor asked, sidling up to Zethrid’s free side and grabbing her hand.

“Narti here thinks we should have a ‘unified colour scheme’, whatever that means.” Zethrid relayed, and Acxa snorted.

“Really, Narti?” she teased. “You’re blind, what do you care how we dress?”

“She has a point, actually.” Lotor mused, tapping his chin. “We’ll want to present a unified front when we arrive to enlist as officers, and coordinated outfits will go a long ways towards that.”

“What colour should they be?” Ezor asked, and Lotor sighed as his clade all suddenly looked between each other.

“Let’s find a place to sit and discuss this.” he said, turning to lead them down the street again.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to locate a small cafe with outdoor seating, and Zethrid swiped a chair so they could all sit at one table. “So.” she said as she sat down, leaning her elbows on the table and making the whole thing tilt slightly. “What colours are we gonna play dress-up in?”

“Does it even have to be colours?” Ezor asked, and Lotor raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, what if we all have the same outfit in different colours?”

“Not as effective.” Lotor shook his head.

“You just want to wear your own colours, don’t you?” Acxa accused, and Ezor lifted her hands as she shrugged.

“Guilty as charged.”

“We should have similar designs, though.” Zethrid mused. “A crest too, since you’re going to be a Commander.”

“I already have a crest.” Lotor assured her. “I’ve had it designed for several deca-phoebs.”

“That’s an understatement.” Acxa muttered, and Lotor brought his heel down on her foot under the table.

“What we’re discussing right now, is colours.”

“Well, Imperial red is traditional.” Zethrid mused.

“Which is why it’s off-limits.” Lotor said firmly. “Imperial red, quintessence purple, and quintessence yellow are all off the table.”

“Just those colours?” Ezor’s blue eyes sparkled, and Lotor gave her a flat look.

“Just for that, your colours are banned as well.”

“Rude.” she huffed, crossing her arms.

“I suggest we use a different shade of red as our primary colour.” Acxa folded her hands primly on the table. “Accents in dark but saturated purple and something paler, possibly a cream or beige.”

“Sounds generic.” Ezor’s heel scuffed at the stone under the table as she swung her leg idly. “Why not take a colour from each of us, so it’s representative?”

“Your colours are banned, though.” Zethrid pointed out.

“It’s not a bad idea, actually.” Lotor mused, looking over their faces, taking in colours that could potentially come together in a sort of uniform that didn’t hurt the eye to look at. That dark stripe down the middle of Narti’s face, the near-black crests rising from Acxa’s hair, the pale blue tint of Zethrid’s skin.

Narti tapped him on the arm, and when he looked over she lifted Kova to sit on the table and gestured at him. “Oh, we’d have to get him a collar.” Ezor laughed, and Narti shook her head. She tapped gently on his head, the back of one ear, the little orange mane that went down the back of his neck.

“I don’t understand.” Acxa frowned. Narti’s shoulders dropped, her head falling back in clear exasperation.

Lotor leaned an elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “Are you saying that we’ll need a suit for Kova? Because I would happily let you try to dress him.” if anyone could get his cheoc to behave long enough to be dressed, it would surely be the omega with telepathic abilities.

Evidently that wasn’t what she meant though, because her head fell forward into her hand with a soft smack. “Here.” Zethrid reached out a hand, palm up. “Tell me, and I’ll tell them.”

Narti rested her fingertips on Zethrid’s without raising her head, and Zethrid nodded. “She’s suggesting we use Kova’s colours, so all six of us match.”

Lotor looked at the cheoc, currently licking his paw and utterly disinterested in the attention. “Well, we at least know the colours work together.” he said after a moment.

“Are we really going to style ourselves after your pet?” Ezor’s nose wrinkled, and Zethrid slung an arm around her shoulders.

“Think of him like our team mascot.”

“All agreed on using Kova’s colours?” Lotor raised his hand, and Narti’s and Zethrid’s followed immediately. Acxa lifted hers a tick later, and Ezor crossed her arms with a huff.

“Then we’re agreed.” Lotor stood, reaching out to pick up Kova. The cheoc slipped his grasp, but before he could make another grab Kova was seated on Narti’s shoulder, tail flicking lazily.

“Aww, he likes you.” Zethrid grinned, reaching out to scratch under Kova’s chin.

“Look out, Lotor.” Acxa elbowed him with a small grin. “I think she’s stealing your cheoc.”

“He’s the team cheoc at this point, honestly.” he shrugged. Kova hadn’t been purely _his_ since, probably before they left Iostar if he was being honest. But if that was the trade-off for having a clade like his, he would gladly take it. “Come, we’ve shopping to get to. Getting fitted for custom armour takes time.”

“I’m gonna ask for spikes.” Zethrid grinned, and Ezor giggled.

“Mine’s gotta be able to turn invisible.” she looped an arm around Zethrid’s.

“Maybe we should make sure Narti’s has flat pauldrons, so Kova’s got somewhere to sit.” Acxa suggested.

Narti perked up at that suggestion, nodding enthusiastically, and Lotor smiled. Not only were they going to blow the other trainee officers out of the sky, they were going to look professional while doing it. He could hardly wait.


End file.
